Ruckstell Corp. v. Great Lakes Aircraft Corp.

Upon a thorough reading of the evidence and briefs, we are satisfied with the disposition made of this cause by the District Court of Appeal, Second District, Division Two, and we therefore adopt its opinion as and for the decision of this court. It reads:

“We do not believe, under the evidence in this case, that any other conclusion can be drawn than that the alleged oral contract of July 18, 1929, was simply an arrangement between Rankin, the Pacific Coast distributor of defendant corporation, and plaintiff’s assignor, by which plaintiff, under Rankin, acquired the exclusive right to sell planes manufactured by defendant in part of Rankin’s territory, plus the state of Arizona, which was not allotted Rankin by contract but (which he had the option under his contract to acquire and) which defendant was apparently satisfied to let him have; that there was no direct contract of agency between defendant and plaintiff or its assignor, and that when Rankin’s contract was cancelled, any right plaintiff had fell with it. Nor in our opinion does the use of the word ‘distributor’ by defendant, in speaking of plaintiff at various times, mean anything more than that it had the exclusive…