Shoreline Communications, Inc. v. Norwich Taxi, LLC

797 A.2d 1165 (2002)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

P is the owner of a radio communications tower. P and Eagle entered into a five-year license agreement for Eagle to use its radio equipment at a designated space on P's radio transmission tower. Eagle had the right to use the space without restriction to any particular usage. Eagle encountered no problems in its use of the transmission tower and promptly made license payments as they became due. On May 20, 1999, Eagle assigned the license agreement to D. Without reserving any additional rights, the D informed P that it had assumed the rights and obligations stated in the agreement. D made payments to the P until the end of October of that year. From May to October D made a good faith effort to install its radio equipment on P's tower. Because Eagle's installation had encountered no difficulties, D assumed that its own installation would be problematic. On assignment, D did not know whether it could use Eagle's equipment but its own taxi service encompassed a wider area, and its headquarters was further away from P's tower. Without doing any investigation, D unconditionally assumed the rights and duties set out in the license agreement. P discovered it would have to use the services of two different telephone companies, with unacceptable uncertainties about prompt detection and remediation of transmission failures. D terminated the license agreement. P sued D for failure to make payments. The court concluded that D had assumed the risk of installation under the Restatement Section 154. P got the judgment, and D appealed.