Gruen Watch Co. v. Artists Alliance, Inc.

The appeal at bar is from a final judgment entered on March 8, 1950, dismissing the plaintiff’s (Gruen’s) second amended and supplemental complaint on the ground that it failed to state a claim on which relief could be granted and from an order made concurrently striking portions of the complaint on motion of the producer defendants who will be referred to usually hereinafter as Cowan. Jurisdiction in the instant case is based on diversity and judisdictional amount, Gruen being an Ohio corporation and the defendants variously being either citizens of California or of New York. Bulova Watch Company, Inc. (Bulova) has been also named as a party.

The second amended and supplemental complaint alleges the fóllowing: In May of 1948, Kline, a “public relations” man and an agent for Gruen, at Cowan’s instance and request obtained an agreement from four advertisers represented by him for the use of displays and signs in a forthcoming motion picture, “Love Happy”, to be produced by Cowan. Gruen was one of the four advertisers. Kline’s letter of June 22, 1948, attached to the complaint as “Exhibit A”, the terms of which were accepted by the producers, formed the basis of the con tract. Most…