A court of equity will not enforce the specific performance of a
contract wherein the defendant, in consideration of receiving a
license to use certain patents belonging to the plaintiff during
the life of such patents, agrees never to import, manufacture or
sell any machines or devices covered by certain other patents
unless permitted in writing so to do, nor to dispute or contest the
validity of such patents or plaintiff's title thereto, and further
to aid and morally assist the plaintiff in maintaining public
respect for and preventing infringements upon the same, and further
agrees that if, after the termination of his license, he shall
continue to make, sell or use any machine or part thereof
containing such patented inventions, the plaintiff shall have the
right to treat him as an infringer and to sue out an injunction
against him without notice.
This was an appeal from a decree dismissing a bill in equity
wherein the plaintiff sought an accounting upon a contract, and an
injunction prohibiting the defendant from manufacturing and selling
bicycles and tricycles containing certain patented devices in
violation of a contract entered into between the parties on
December 1, 1884. A copy of this contract is printed in the margin.
*
Page 144 U. S. 225
The bill alleged that the plaintiff was engaged in the
manufacture and sale of bicycles and tricycles of superior
quality,
Page 144 U. S. 226
that these machines embodied in their construction inventions
covered by letters patent owned by the plaintiff; that, in
pursuance
Page 144 U. S. 227
of a plan adopted by it, it reserved to itself the right to
manufacture and sell the highest grades, and among others a
Page 144 U. S. 228
style of bicycle known as the "Standard Columbia Bicycle;" that
under the agreement entered into with the defendant, the latter
Page 144 U. S. 229
was granted the right to make, use, and sell bicycles 52 inches
in size and upwards, and of certain style and finish, and
Page 144 U. S. 230
embodying the inventions set forth in certain patents named, and
that he should not manufacture bicycles embodying the features of
certain other patents specified in the agreement; that said
defendant expressly agreed that he would not manufacture or sell,
directly or indirectly, bicycles, etc., containing any of the
inventions or claims in either of said letters patent, nor make,
use, or sell, directly or indirectly, certain parts of bicycles
specified in the contract, other than according to the conditions
and terms in said license.
That it was provided by the eleventh clause of said contract
that the defendant might surrender the license at any time by
written notice, but it was provided in the same clause that no
revocation, surrender, or termination of said license or any part
of it should release or discharge said Gormully from any liability
which might have accrued, become due, or arisen prior to or at the
date of said surrender or from the obligations, admissions, and
agreements contained in sections 6, 7, 8, 9, and 11; that such
admissions and agreements were a part of the consideration for the
granting of the license, and were irrevocable except by the written
consent of the licensor; that it was provided in said clause 11
that if the licensee should continue, after the termination of said
license, to make, sell, or use any of the machines or parts thereof
containing either of the parts referred to in section 9, plaintiff
should have the right to treat the defendant as a party to, and in
breach of, the contract, and that defendant, by said section 9,
consented that if he did make, use, or sell any machine containing
such parts, an injunction might issue in favor of the plaintiff
restraining him from so doing.
After setting forth an immaterial modification of such contract
subsequently agreed upon, it further averred that the defendant
entered upon the manufacture of bicycles under said license, made
returns thereof, and paid royalties to plaintiff in accordance with
the same, and that said license in respect to the clause claimed to
have been violated is still in full force and effect. The bill
further charged that since March 1, 1886, defendant has violated
the ninth clause of the contract in constructing bicycles of a kind
prohibited by the
Page 144 U. S. 231
contract, in violation of the first and ninth clauses of said
contract.
For which reasons, the plaintiff prayed for an account of the
machines made in violation of the agreement, and for an
injunction.
The court below found that there was no contest between the
parties as to the execution of the instrument set out in the bill;
that the terms of the contract were such as to prohibit the
defendant from making the high-grade styles and kinds of bicycles
and tricycles complained of; that if the contract was valid and in
force, it was being violated by the defendant; but that the
contract was not of such a nature as to entitle the plaintiff to
any relief in a court of equity. 34 F. 877. From a decree
dismissing the bill for the want of equity, the plaintiff appealed
to this Court.
Page 144 U. S. 232
MR. JUSTICE BROWN, after stating the facts in the forgoing
language, delivered the opinion of the Court.
This case involves the question whether a court of equity can be
called upon to decree the specific performance of a contract
wherein the defendant, in consideration of receiving a license to
use certain patents belonging to the plaintiff during the life of
such patents, agrees never to import, manufacture, or sell any
machines or devices covered by certain other patents unless
permitted in writing so to do, nor to dispute or contest the
validity of such patents or plaintiff's title thereto, and further
to aid and morally assist the plaintiff in maintaining public
respect for and preventing infringements upon the same, and further
agrees that if, after the termination of his license, he shall
continue to make, sell, or use any machine or part thereof
containing such patented inventions, the plaintiff shall have the
right to treat him as an infringer and to sue out an injunction
against him without notice.
There are other covenants in this contract which show that the
plaintiff intended to reserve to itself a large supervision and
control of the defendant's business -- for example, in the second
clause, wherein the defendant agrees to maintain a place of
business in Chicago, keep on hand a stock of bicycles, and
advertise his business by occupying and paying for one-page space
continuously, during the term of his license, in a certain
periodical published in Boston, and in other publications of
general circulation, and to advertise that it is licensed by the
plaintiff. By the sixth clause, he agrees to sell bicycles at
retail, and not to sell to any person except upon terms and prices
satisfactory to the plaintiff, and as shall first be submitted to
and approved by it, and shall not have or sell to any agent in any
other place than Chicago, nor pay nor allow freight beyond Chicago,
nor any bonus, rebate, allowance, or commission on sales. By the
seventh clause, he agrees to stamp the word "patented" on each
machine, together with the dates of the patents under which each of
the machines is made or sold, according to a list furnished by the
plaintiff.
Page 144 U. S. 233
It is rarely that this Court is called upon to consider so
unique a contract, and we have found some difficulty in assigning
to it its proper place among legal obligations. Its requirement is
not merely that the licensee shall refrain during the term of his
license from infringing other patents than those which he is
expressly authorized to use, but shall forever afterwards at least
during the life of such patents, refrain from importing, making, or
selling articles covered by them and from disputing the validity
thereof or plaintiff's title thereto, and shall afford his moral
aid and assistance in securing proper aid and respect for such
patents. The exact nature and amount of moral suasion the licensee
is bound to exert in behalf of the plaintiff is not specified, but
is apparently left to be determined by the circumstances of the
case.
1. Ordinarily the law leaves to parties the right to make such
contracts as they please, demanding, however, that they shall not
require either party to do an illegal thing and that they shall not
be against public policy or in restraint of trade. It is argued
with much earnestness here that this contract is open to the last
objection as an attempt to fetter the defendant from importing or
making bicycles in which he might otherwise have a perfect right to
deal, and thus foreclose himself from the ability to earn an honest
living in his chosen calling. It is scarcely necessary to say that
without this contract, the defendant would have no right to
manufacture or sell bicycles covered by valid patents of the
plaintiff, so that the contract is not needed for the protection of
the plaintiff to this extent. The real question is whether the
defendant can estop himself from disputing patents which may be
wholly void, or to which the plaintiff may have no shadow of title.
It is impossible to define with accuracy what is meant by that
public policy for an interference and violation of which a contract
may be declared invalid. It may be understood in general that
contracts which are detrimental to the interests of the public as
understood at the time fall within the ban. The standard of such
policy is not absolutely invariable or fixed, since contracts which
at one stage of our civilization may seem to conflict with public
interests at a more advanced stage are
Page 144 U. S. 234
treated as legal and binding. In certain cases, a man may
doubtless agree that he will interpose no defense to a specified
claim, and that another may take judgment against him without
notice. This is a matter of everyday occurrence in connection with
what are termed judgment notes. But if one should agree for a
valuable consideration that he would set up no defense to any
action which another might bring against him, and such other person
might enter up judgment against him in any such action without
notice, we think that no court would hesitate to pronounce such an
agreement invalid. There are certain fundamental rights which no
man can barter away -- such, for instance, as his right to life and
personal freedom and, in criminal cases, the right to be tried by a
jury of his peers. Courts have even gone so far as to say that a
man cannot consent to be tried by a jury of less than twelve men,
whatever may be the circumstances under which the twelfth man is
taken from the panel. Cooley, Const.Lim. 319. We are reluctant to
say that a right to defend a whole class of unjust claims may not
be one of these. It is as important to the public that competition
should not be repressed by worthless patents as that the patentee
of a really valuable invention should be protected in his monopoly,
and it is a serious question whether public policy permits a man to
barter away beforehand his right to defend against unjust actions
or classes of actions, though in an individual case he may
doubtless assent that a judgment be rendered against him, even
without notice.
The reports are not entirely barren of authority upon this
subject. Thus, in
Crane v. French, 38 Miss. 503, it was
held that though a party may omit to take advantage of a right,
such as the right to plead the statute of limitations, secured to
him by law, he could not bind himself by contract not to avail
himself of such right if it be secured to him on grounds of public
policy. "But there appears to be," says the court,
"a clear distinction between declining to take advantage of a
privilege which the law allows to a party and binding himself by
contract that he will not avail himself of a right which the law
has allowed to him on grounds of public
Page 144 U. S. 235
policy. A man may decline to set up the defense of usury, or the
statute of limitations, or failure of consideration to an action on
a promissory note. But it would scarcely be contended that a
stipulation inserted in such a note that he would never set up such
a defense would debar him of the defense if he thought fit to make
it. . . . Suppose, then, an agreement made by the maker of a note
that he would not set up the defense of usury. Would an action lie
for a breach of that agreement in case the party should make the
defense in disregard of it? It appears not, and the reason is that
the right to make the defense is not only a private right to the
individual, but it is founded on public policy, which is promoted
by his making the defense and contravened by his refusal to make
it. . . . With regard to all such matters of public policy, it
would seem that no man can bind himself
by estoppel not to
assert a right which the law gives him on reasons of public
policy."
There are cases wherein it is held that a promise not to plead
the statute of limitations is a good bar, but they are those
wherein the promise was made after the cause of action had accrued,
and where it was considered by the court as a new promise. There
are a few cases, however, which hold that an agreement not to plead
the statute, made upon the instrument or at the time of its
execution, may be pleaded as an estoppel. So, in
Stoutenburg v.
Lybrand, 13 Ohio St. 228, it was held that a contract which
provides that a defendant in a proceeding for divorce shall make no
defense thereto is against public policy, and therefore void. "The
tendency of such agreements," said the court, "is to mislead the
court in the administration of justice, and injuriously affect
public interests." A like ruling was made in
Sayles v.
Sayles, 1 Foster 312, and in
Viser v. Bertrand, 14
Ark. 267. So, in
Bell v. Leggett, 7 N.Y. 176, 179, it was
said that
"all contracts or agreements which have for their object
anything which is repugnant to justice, or against the general
policy of the common law, or contrary to the provisions of any
statute, are void,"
and that this principle has often been applied by our courts to
contracts which had for their objects the perversion of the
ordinary
Page 144 U. S. 236
operations of the government. In that case, a note given by a
third person to a creditor in consideration of his withdrawing
opposition to the discharge of a bankrupt debtor was held to be
void as against the policy of the law. In most of the states
wherein the question has arisen, it has been held that a debtor is
not bound by his waiver of his homestead or other exemptions upon
execution.
Kneetle v. Newcomb, 22 N.Y. 249, 251. "In these
cases," said the court,
"the law seeks to mitigate the consequences of man's
thoughtlessness and improvidence, and it does not, I think, allow
its policy to be invaded by any language which may be inserted in
the contract."
The exigencies of this case do not require us to decide the
question whether a man may or may not contract before hand not to
set up a certain defense to a particular action, but we are of the
opinion that a contract not to set up any defense whatever to any
suit that may be begun upon fifty different causes of action is in
violation of public policy.
See, as pertinent to this
question,
Insurance Co. v.
Morse, 20 Wall. 445;
Doyle v. Continental Ins.
Co., 94 U. S. 535;
Barron v. Burnside, 121 U. S.
187.
(2) But whether this contract be absolutely void as contravening
public policy or not, we are clearly of the opinion that it does
not belong to that class of contracts the specific performance of
which a court of equity can be called upon to enforce. To stay the
arm of a court of equity from enforcing a contract, it is by no
means necessary to prove that it is invalid; from time immemorial
it has been the recognized duty of such courts to exercise a
discretion, to refuse their aid in the enforcement of
unconscionable, oppressive, or iniquitous contracts, and to turn
the party claiming the benefit of such contract over to a court of
law. This distinction was recognized by this Court in
Cathcart v.
Robinson, 5 Pet. 264,
30 U. S. 276,
wherein Chief Justice Marshall says:
"The difference between that degree of unfairness which will
induce a court of equity to interfere actively by setting aside a
contract and that which will induce a court to withhold its aid is
well settled. 10 Ves. 292; 2 Coxe's Cases in Chancery 77. It is
said that the plaintiff must come into court with clean hands,
Page 144 U. S. 237
and that a defendant may resist a bill for specific performance
by showing that, under the circumstances, the plaintiff is not
entitled to the relief he asks. Omission or mistake in the
agreement, or that it is unconscientious or unreasonable, or that
there has been concealment, misrepresentation, or any unfairness,
are enumerated among the causes which will induce the court to
refuse its aid."
This principle is reasserted in
Hennessey v. Woolworth,
128 U. S. 438,
128 U. S. 442,
in which it was said that specific performance is not of absolute
right, but one which rests entirely in judicial discretion,
exercised, it is true, according to the settled principles of
equity, and not arbitrarily or capriciously, and always with
reference to the facts of the particular case.
Willard v.
Tayloe, 8 Wall. 557,
75 U. S. 567;
Marble Co. v.
Ripley, 10 Wall. 339,
77 U. S. 357; 1
Story's Eq.Jur. ยง 742;
Seymour v. Delancey, 6 Johns.Ch.
222, 224;
White v. Damon, 7 Ves. 30, 35;
Radcliffe v.
Warrington, 12 Ves. 326, 331.
These principles apply with great force to the contract under
consideration in this case. Not only are the stipulations in
paragraphs 9 and 11 unusual and oppressive, but there is much
reason for saying that they were not understood by the defendant as
importing any obligation on his part beyond the termination of his
license. Indeed, the operation of these covenants upon his
legitimate business was such that it is hardly possible he could
have understood their legal purport. The testimony upon this point
was fully reviewed by the court below in its opinion, and the
conclusion reached that the contract "was an artfully contrived
snare to bind the defendant in a manner which he did not comprehend
at the time he became a party to it." We have not found it
necessary to go into the details of this testimony. While we are
not satisfied that his assent to this contract was obtained by any
fraud or misrepresentation, or that the defendant should not be
bound by it to the extent to which it is valid at law, we are
clearly of the opinion that it is of such a character that the
plaintiff has no right to call upon a court of equity to give it
the relief it has sought to obtain in this suit. We express no
opinion upon the question whether an action at law will lie upon
the
Page 144 U. S. 238
covenants of the ninth clause of the contract not to manufacture
or sell the devices therein specified.
The decree of the court below dismissing the bill is
therefore
Affirmed.
*
"This agreement, made this first day of December, 1884, by and
between the Pope Manufacturing Company, a corporation established
under the laws of Connecticut and having a place of business in
Boston, Massachusetts, party of the first part, and R. Philip
Gormully, of Chicago, Illinois, party of the second part,
witnesseth:"
"That whereas letters patent of the United States, numbered and
dated as in the following list, were duly granted for the
inventions therein set forth, and by certain good and valid
assignments the same are now owned by the party of the first
part:"
"[Here follows a descriptive list of sixty-five patents.]"
"And whereas said party of the second part is desirous of
making, using, and selling to others to be used, bicycles embodying
in their construction and modes of operation certain of the said
inventions, and of securing license thereof under certain of said
letters patent, now therefore, in consideration of one dollar, paid
by the party of the second part to the party of the first part, the
receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged, and in further
consideration of the covenants, agreements, and stipulations
hereinafter contained, said parties have consented and agreed as
follows:"
"First. The party of the first part agrees to license, and does
hereby license, the party of the second part, subject to the
conditions and provisions herein named, to manufacture at the shop
or factory of the party of the second part, in Chicago, in the
State of Illinois, and in no other place or places, bicycles of
fifty-two-inch size and upwards, of such quality, construction,
grade, and finish as to be sold in the market at retail prices not
greater than eighty percent of the retail list prices of the
Standard Columbia bicycles of same or nearest similar sizes and
styles, severally embodying the inventions set forth in those of
the said letters patent numbered [here follow the numbers of
fifteen patents] or either of them, or either claim thereof, and no
others, so far as applicable within the conditions and restrictions
herein contained, and to sell said bicycles to others to be used,
and to use the same, within and throughout the United States and
the territories thereof. This license is not to be understood or
construed as a license to import, manufacture, buy, sell, or deal
in bicycles or tricycles, or in pedals, saddles, springs, rims,
bearings, or other patented parts thereof, otherwise than as herein
expressly stipulated. This license is not transferable, and is in
addition to and not to modify or supersede previous ones except as
herein expressed."
"Second. The party of the second part hereby agrees to maintain
a suitable place of business in said Chicago, and to keep there on
hand a stock of bicycles as above referred to, and to promote and
aid in extending the interest in bicycling and tricycling and the
use of bicycles among those not already wheelmen, and to advertise
the business by occupying and paying for one-page space
continuously during the term of this license in the monthly
magazine published by the Wheelman Company of Boston,
Massachusetts, and to a reasonable extent to other publications of
general circulation, and to advertise that it is licensed by the
Pope Manufacturing Company."
"Third. The party of the second part agrees to keep at its place
of business full, true, and correct books of account, open at all
reasonable times to the party of the first part and to its
delegate, in which shall be set down all bicycles made or sold by
the party of the second part, with the name or description, size,
style, and number thereof, and the names and addresses of the
parties to whom sold."
"Fourth. The party of the second part agrees to make full and
true returns in writing to the party of the first part on or before
the tenth day of each calendar month in each year, beginning with
the tenth day of January, A.D. 1885, of all bicycles (and whether
any or not) made, used, or sold in the United States by the party
of the second part during the preceding calendar month, with the
size, style, number, name or description, and make of the said
machines, and the names and addresses of the purchasers, and also
of such machines held in stock by the party of the second part at
the end of the said preceding month, said returns to be made under
oath whenever required by the party of the first part, and to pay
the royalties or license fees as herein stipulated, on or before
the said tenth day of each of said months, on all said bicycles
used or sold by them or removed from their said factory or place of
business in the preceding month."
"Fifth. The party of the second part agrees to pay to the party
of the first part the sum of ten dollars upon and for each and
every bicycle in whole or in part made by or for it at any time
prior to the 1st day of April, A.D. 1886, or the termination of
this license, as part license fees or part royalties under said
several letters patent or such or either claim thereof as may be
used, and as part of the consideration for this agreement, and it
is agreed that the party of the second part shall so pay to the
party of the first part, under this license and agreement at least
the sum of one thousand dollars within and for each and any
consecutive twelve calendar months during the continuance of this
license."
"Sixth. The party of the second part agrees to sell said
bicycles at retail, and not to sell the same or any of them to any
person or party, either directly or indirectly, except upon such
terms and at such prices as shall be satisfactory to the party of
the first part, and as shall first be submitted to and approved by
the said party of the first part, such written submission of rates,
terms, and prices, with the said approval, to be taken as and to
form a part of this agreement, and not to have or sell through any
agent or agents in any other place than the said Chicago, nor pay
or allow freight beyond the said Chicago, nor any bonus, rebate,
allowance, or commission on sales or from prices, except as
expressly agreed in writing between the parties hereto."
"Seventh. The party of the second part agrees to mark or stamp
in a legible manner the word 'patented' on each machine made or
sold under this license, together with the date or dates of the
patents under which each machine is made or sold, a list of such
patents to be furnished by the party of the first part."
"Eighth. The party of the second part hereby expressly admits
the validity of the several letters patent hereinbefore mentioned,
and of each and every claim thereof, and the title of the party of
the first part thereto, and further admits specifically that the
following inventions are embodied in the 'Ideal' bicycle and the
'Standard Columbia' bicycle and the 'Expert Columbia' bicycle, as
follows, to-wit: (a) the invention claimed in the second clause of
claim of said patent, R. 3,297, in the saddles of said bicycle, and
their connection therewith; (b) the invention claimed in the third
clause of claim of the last-named patent in the cranks of said
bicycles; (c) the invention claimed in the fourth clause of claim
of said last-named patent in the backbones and rear forks of
bicycles; (d) the invention claimed in third clause of claim of
said patent No. 85,527 in the leg-guard of said bicycle; (f) the
invention claimed in second clause of claim of said patent 86,834
in the brake mechanism of said bicycles and its connections; (g)
the invention claimed in the third clause of claim of said patent
86,834 in the steering head of the said bicycles and its
connections; (h) the invention claimed in the fifth clause of claim
of said patent 87,713 in the tires of the wheels of said bicycles;
(i) the inventions claimed in the third clause of claim of said
patent No. 88,507 in the front forks of said 'Expert;'(j) the
inventions claimed in the fourth clause of claim of said last-named
patent in the pedals of said bicycles; (k) the inventions claimed
in the claim of letters patent No. 194,980 in the balance gear and
its connections in the 'Columbia' and 'Victor' tricycles; (l) the
invention claimed in the second clause of claim of said patent No.
197,289 as embodied in the ball bearings of said 'Expert' bicycle
and 'Victor' tricycle and in 'Areolas' ball pedals, and further
admits that any machines or parts of machines constructed in a
substantially similar manner are or would be infringements of said
claims, respectively, and these admissions are unqualified, and may
at any time hereafter be pleaded or proved in estoppel of the party
of the second part."
"Ninth. The party of the second part agrees that it will not
import, manufacture, or sell, either directly or indirectly, any
bicycle, tricycle, or other velocipede, or the pedals, saddles,
bearings, rims, or other patented parts or devices containing any
of the inventions or claims in either of the hereinbefore recited
letters patent, nor make, use, or sell, directly or indirectly,
either (a) backbones bifurcated for a rear wheel, or (b) balance
gear allowing two wheels abreast, differing speeds on curves, or
(c) bearings containing balls or rollers, and laterally adjustable,
or (d) brakes combined with the handle bars and front wheel, or (e)
cranks adjustable to different lengths of throw, or (f) forks of
tubular construction, or (g) mud-shield for steering wheels,
constructed to turn within the wheel, or (h) pedals that are
polygonal, or offering two or more sides for the foot, or (i) round
contractile rubber tires in grooved rims or rims containing or
adapted for rubber or elastic tires, or (j) saddles adjustable fore
and aft, or (k) saddles having a flexible seat and means of taking
up the slack, or (l) steering heads, open or cylindrical, with stop
for complete turning, or (m) leg-guards over front wheel, or (n)
rims of wrought metal tubing and adapted to receive a tire, or (o)
rims composed of sheet metal, with overlapping edges, or (p) wheels
containing hollow metallic rim and rubber tires, or (q) steering
spindle and fork inclined to each other at an angle, or (r) two
speed or power gears, or (s) 'Tangent' spokes or 'Warwick' rims, or
(t) any other device or invention secured by either of these
patents, other than according to the permission, conditions, and
description in paragraph numbered 'first' in this agreement, or as
otherwise agreed in writing with the party of the first part, nor
in any way, either directly or indirectly, dispute or contest the
validity of the letters patent hereinbefore mentioned, or either of
them, or the title thereto of the party of the first part, but will
aid and morally assist the party of the first part in maintaining
public respect for and preventing infringements upon the same."
"Tenth. If and whenever the party of the first part shall reduce
the royalties on bicycles of similar sizes, construction, and
grade, to any other licensee, the above-named royalties shall be
reduced in like manner and proportion to the party of the second
part, and the party of the first part will immediately notify the
party of the second part of any such reduction of royalties. The
party of the second part may sell said herein-licensed bicycles to
regular agents and dealers in the trade, and doing business as such
in any part of the United States at discounts from the said retail
list prices not exceeding twenty-five percent in any case, and to
the smaller agents not exceeding fifteen percent, it being
understood and agreed that said discount of not exceeding
twenty-five percent may be allowed only to our [one?] dealer in
each or either of the following cities: New York, N.Y.;
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Boston, Massachusetts; Baltimore,
Maryland; St. Louis, Missouri; San Francisco, California; St. Paul,
Minnesota, and one city in the southern states, and to two dealers
in Chicago, Illinois. Said party of the second part also agrees to
keep the retail list prices fixed, and not to allow said licensed
bicycles to be sold at retail at less than said retail prices,
either by his own concern or by agents or dealers. The party of the
second part may sell the said licensed bicycles outside of the
United States, for actual use in foreign parts, without the
herein-contained restrictions as to prices and discounts, and upon
satisfactory evidence of such export and foreign sale of said
bicycles, there shall be allowed a rebate or credit of one-half of
said royalties thereon."
"Eleventh. If and whenever the party of the second part shall
fail to make returns or to make payments as herein provided, or
shall violate or fail to keep and perform the terms, conditions,
promises, or agreements, or either of them, herein mentioned on his
part to be kept and performed, the party of the first part may
withdraw and terminate this license and the agreements on its part
mentioned to be kept and performed by notifying the party of the
second part in writing that the license herein contained has been
revoked, and the party of the first part may in like manner revoke
this license whenever the reported sales by the party of the second
part for any consecutive twelve calendar months shall be less than
one hundred machines. The party of the second part may surrender
the license herein contained at any time by written notice to that
effect and the returning of this contract to the party of the first
part; but no such revocation or surrender, and no termination of
this contract, or any part of it, shall release or discharge the
party of the second part from any payment, return, liability, or
performance which may have accrued, become due, or arisen
hereunder, prior to or at the date of such revocation or surrender,
or from the obligations, admissions, and agreements contained in
the sections hereof numbered 'sixth,' 'seventh,' 'eighth,' 'ninth,'
and 'eleventh' hereof, which are a part of the consideration for
the granting of the license herein and are irrevocable except by
written consent of the party of the first part, and it is agreed
that at the termination of the license herein contained at any time
by expiration, revocation, or surrender, the party of the second
part shall pay the within-named royalty on all said herein-licensed
machines or parts of machines, whether wholly finished or not, or
purchased or on hand, or ordered by or for said party of the second
part at the date of said termination, and that the party of the
second part will not sell the same except by first paying the full
amount of said royalty and by complying with all the terms and
conditions of this contract; and, further, that if the party of the
second part shall continue after such termination of the license to
make, sell, or use any machine or substantial part thereof
containing either of the parts specifically referred to in section
'ninth' hereof, or in any invention in any form set forth and
claimed in the letters patent aforesaid, or any of them, the said
party of the first part shall have the right to treat the party of
the second part either as a party to and in breach of this contract
or as a mere infringer, and the said party of the second part
consents that in such case, upon any suit brought by the said party
of the first part against the said party of the second part in any
court, either upon this contract or for an infringement of the said
letters patent, or any of them, an injunction may issue without
notice to the said party of the second part restraining him from
making, selling, or using the said part of devices, or the
invention or inventions in said letters patent or any of them set
forth."
"Witness our hands and seals the day and the year first above
written."
"THE POPE MANUFACTURING COMPANY THE POPE MFG. Co."
"R. PHILIP GORMULLY By CHARLES E. PRATT,
Atty."