Justice Eileen Rakower
Clothing manufacturer Copy Cats alleged it sold manufactured goods to clothing retailer Burlington. Volumecocomo Apparel (VA) asserted a copyright to the pattern in the subject fabric sold by Denmoss to Rising Apparels. VA sued Copy Cats asserting the goods sold by Burlington violated VA’s copyright. Copy Cats settled the action. It sued seeking damages for breach of implied warranty and unjust enrichment based on Denmoss’ sale of the fabric. Denmoss moved for dismissal arguing it had no privity with Copy Cats. Copy Cats argued it ordered and purchased fabric from Denmoss through its factory agent, Rising Apparels. The court noted a claim for breach of an implied warranty under UCC §2-275 was four years from when delivery was made, and if causes of action in the complaint were all premised on the same allegation falling within the scope of UCC Article 2, the statute of limitations applied to all claims, despite the theory under which they were pleaded. It ruled Copy Cats’ breach claim was time-barred, noting as the unjust enrichment claim was premised on the sale of the allegedly copyrighted fabric it was also based on a UCC breach of warranty claim, and thus dismissed.
