Legal Question in Business Law in California
license agreement
I have a kiosk in a mall where I sell clothing, shawls, scarves, jewelry and accessories. Yesterday another kiosk opened that also sells clothing. I thought I had exclusivity because My license agreement reads, ''permitted use: for the exclusive retail sale of silk and cashmere scarves, clothing and freshwater pearl jewelry and accessories. Am I misunderstanding?
4 Answers from Attorneys
Re: license agreement
Since the quoted snippet comes under the "permitted use" section or heading, I would guess that it's intended to limit what you can sell, and not to give you exclusive rights to sell those items, but it's poorly worded. Probably typed into a blank on the preprinted lease.
Exclusive rights to sell particular merchandise are very common in mall and shopping center leases, and if you don't have one it may be (a) you didn't bargain hard enough, or (b) your mall management considers kiosks a step below its regular stores and thus not entitled to the benefit of a protected range of merchandise.
Re: license agreement
Unfortunately, it appears, based on the limited sentence that you quoted that YOU agreed to sell ONLY those items.
Did the agreement provide any limitations on the mall that you would have the only kiosk to sell these items?
This is why you need to have an attorney review the agreement BEFORE you sign it.
DISCLAIMER
This reply constitutes legal information for education purposes and does NOT constitute legal advice nor establish an attorney-client relationship. We will only represent you based on a written retainer agreement. Therefore, you should contact this office to discuss representation if you do want legal advice/representation.
Re: license agreement
It is impossible to interpret a contract from such a short snippet. However, the term you described sounds like a limitation on YOUR use of the kiosk.
There may be other terms in the lease that do give you an exclusive right to be the sole kiosk in that mall that sells "silk and cashmere scarves, clothing and freshwater pearl jewelry and accessories", but you should have an attorney review the ENTIRE lease to see if you have any legal grounds to take action.
Re: license agreement
That language probably does not provide you the 'exclusivity' you thought. It should have been a lot more specific. However, you can certainly argue that exclusivity is what you've been paying for, and expect to get.
Related Questions & Answers
-
Minimum Sueing May I sue someone for $499.00 in small claims? Asked 4/07/08, 11:02 pm in United States California Business Law
-
Statutes Once a suit is filed in California, how long does the plaintiff have in... Asked 4/07/08, 10:15 pm in United States California Business Law