Helen Davies v. Carnation Company

Appellant instituted her suit against a number of defendants, and one of them, Carnation Company, obtained the granting of a motion for summary judgment in its favor. The facts are found in numerous affidavits and other documents offered in support of and in opposition to the motion, as well as in deposition testimony given by the appellant.

A process for manufacturing condensed milk in dry form had been developed by D. D. Peebles, president of Western Condensing Company. An account of his work had appeared in a publication, and Carnation Company had obtained rights to distribute the product under the name, Carnation Instant Milk.

On November 12, 1954, appellant, claiming to be “a researcher in the food industry, working as an independent consultant” wrote an unsolicited letter to Mr. Peebles. She complimented Mr. Peebles for his accomplishment as reported in the publication, expressed an interest in testing the product in her “home test kitchen”, and asked if his “office might obtain information from the Carnation Company the names of stores where we might obtain 1-2 lbs.?” An assistant to Mr. Peebles replied that appellant’s letter was being referred to Carnation Company.…