Business Law

Fact Scenario: Quik Results, Inc.(QRI), a Michigan corporation, makes and sells Power Up!, a super energy boosting, carbonated beverage. Power Up! is made in Michigan, but shipped to stores all across the Midwest and East Coast. Power Up! is made by QRI, and delivered on QRI. trucks, by QRI employees. QRI has in-house accounting and marketing staff.

Assignment: Use the scenario above and properly cited research from your textbook and elsewhere to support your conclusions and give detailed, thorough answers to the ANY 5 of the following questions. Expectations are answers should be approximately 1-2 pages per question, for a total of approximately 5-10 total pages. Please use 12 point Times New Roman font and normal margins.

1. Orin, a citizen of Ohio, sees an ad for Power Up! in EXTREME!!! magazine and buys it in Ohio at a local store. Within 2 hours of drinking Power Up! Orin suffers internal injuries. Alleging that the injuries are caused by Power Up! Orin files a suit against QRI in an Ohio state court. QRI asks the court to dismiss the suit on the ground that it does not have personal jurisdiction over QRI. What is the court most likely to rule and why?

2. Steve, a driver for QRI, leaves the truck’s motor running in neutral and carelessly forgets to set the parking brake while he makes a delivery. The truck rolls and crashes into a nearby gas station pump, igniting a fire that spreads quickly to a construction site a block away. A burned wall collapses onto a crane, which falls on, and injures, a bystander, Flo. What must Flo show to recover damages from Steve? What are QRI’s potential liabilities?

3. QRI’s in-house marketing department decides to use in print ads for Power Up! direct quotes from a study that shows the ingredients in Power Up! are safe and effective. The study was done by Deep Topics, Inc. a private, for profit research/think tank organization. QRI does not obtain the permission of Deep Topics to use the study in its advertisements. Deep Topics files a suit against QRI, alleging infringement of the plaintiffs’ intellectual property rights. Which type of intellectual property is involved in this situation? What is QRI’s likely defense? How is a court most likely to rule? Explain.

4. Flossy, worried about her cousin Garth’s dangerous obesity and seeming addiction to Power Up! promises to pay Garth, $10,000 if Garth stops drinking Power Up! and loses 100 pounds within the next two years. Garth agrees, performs his part of the bargain, and asks for the money. Flossy refuses to pay, saying that she forgot about the deal, but that even if she did make such a pledge, there was no valid consideration for it. Garth files a suit against Flossy. In whose favor is the court likely to rule, and why?

5. QRI, hires Cole to its in-house marketing team to develop and implement an e-commerce strategy for marketing Power Up!. Cole signs a contract that includes a clause prohibiting him from competing with QRI during and after the employment. After creating the strategy, but before the strategy is implemented, Cole resigns from QRI’s employ and opens a business to compete with QRI. In QRI’s suit against Cole, to determine whether Cole may compete with QRI, what are the most important factors the court should consider? What will be the result of the suit?

6. QRI includes on the label of Power Up! a warning that states that QRI is not liable for any injury or death caused by Power Up!. Three drinkers of Power Up! become violently ill and 2 die soon after drinking Power Up! The cause of injury and death is found to be due to QRI’s negligence in making Power Up!. All three of those injured bought their Power Up! at different locations of the 8/12 convenience store chain. Under what cause of action or theory could QRI be sued? Could 8/12 be sued? Under what theory? Based on the warning on the label of Power Up!, can QRI avoid liability?

7. Quicksilver Delivery Service contracts to deliver Power Up! in California for $5,000, payable in advance. QRI pays the money, but Quicksilver fails to perform. Can QRI rescind the contract? Can QRI also obtain restitution? What does it mean to “rescind” a contract? How is a contract rescinded? What is restitution? How is restitution accomplished? Explain.

8. QRI is concerned about preventing competitors from imitating the distinctive Power Up! logo and thereby misleading customers. How can QRI protect the logo? What would QRI do if someone imitated or straight copied the Power Up! logo

9. Can QRI prevent its employees from revealing its customer lists, pricing policies, and other confidential information, if the employees resign to work for a competitor or to enter the same business themselves? How?