Force India Formula One Team Ltd v Etihad Airways PJSC and Another: QBD 4 Nov 2009

The parties had entered into a sponsorship agreement, with the claimants undertaking to display the name of the defendants on their car. After the agreement, the claimant company had been taken over by parties with interests competing with those of the defendants, and the defendants said that they had terminated the agreement and their obligations. The claimants denied any breach by them allowing the termination of the contract.
Held: E/A by their course of conduct over the months detailed above had, prior to the sending of the letter of termination, elected not to exercise any right they might otherwise have had to terminate the contract. By parity of reasoning the various breaches of contract now relied on were waived by E/A or alternatively acquiesced in by their conduct over that period.
Damages were assessed accordingly.

Sir Charles Gray
[2009] EWHC 2768 (QB), [2010] ETMR 14
Bailii
England and Wales
Citing:
CitedVitol Sa v Norelf Ltd HL 10-Jul-1996
(The Santa Clara) The seller was to deliver propane by a ship set to leave on a certain date. The market was falling. The buyer, when it was clear that the ship would be unable to leave on the day fixed, sent a telex to say that the contract was . .
CitedStocznia Gdynia Sa v Gearbulk Holdings Ltd CA 13-Feb-2009
Orders were placed for the construction of ships. They were not delivered. The buyer, the defendant, cancelled the orders. The defendants sought the loss of profit. The claimants said they were entitled only to the repayment of instalments. The . .
CitedWoodar Investment Development Ltd v Wimpey Construction UK Ltd HL 14-Feb-1980
Wimpey agreed to buy land from Woodar for a sum of andpound;850,000 of which andpound;150,000 was to be paid to Transworld. A month later Wimpey sent a letter purporting to rescind the contract and Woodar sued for damages including the . .
CitedGlencore Grain Rotterdam BV v Lebanese Organisation for International Commerce CA 25-Jun-1997
The court was asked: ‘(1) What approach should the Court adopt on seeking to ascertain, by a process of implication, what terms of a letter of credit are contractual under an FOB sale which provides for payment to be made by an irrevocable and . .
CitedTele2 International Card Company Sa and others v Post Office Ltd CA 21-Jan-2009
Appeal against rejection of claim for novation of contract.
Held: Aikens LJ summarised the analysis by Lord Goff of the principles of affirmation by election in Kanchenjunga as follows: ‘i) If a contract gives a party a right to terminate upon . .
CitedConcord Trust v Law Debenture Trust Corporation Plc HL 28-Apr-2005
The House was called on to construe the terms of a Eurobond. The question was as to the entitlement to require the trustees to issue a notice of default which would accelerate payment under the bond, and the ability of the Trustees to call for an . .
CitedF L Schuler AG v Wickman Machine Tools Sales Limited HL 4-Apr-1973
The parties entered an agreement to distribute and sell goods in the UK. They disagreed as to the meaning of a term governing the termination of the distributorship.
Held: The court can not take into account the post-contractual conduct or . .
CitedExpert Clothing Service and Sales Ltd v Hillgate House Ltd CA 1985
Landlords took possession after a successful, at first instance, forfeiture claim. The tenant succeeded on appeal and then brought a claim for the wrong of breach of the covenant for quiet enjoyment.
Held: The lease had been in existence all . .
CitedThe Fanis CA 1994
Mance LJ said: ‘The general issue is in my view appropriately stated as being whether any profit or loss arose out of or was sufficiently closely connected with the breach to require to be brought into account in assessing damages. Resolution of . .
CitedGolden Strait Corporation v Nippon Yusen Kubishka Kaisha (‘The Golden Victory’) HL 28-Mar-2007
The claimant sought damages for repudiation of a charterparty. The charterpary had been intended to continue until 2005. The charterer repudiated the contract and that repudiation was accepted, but before the arbitrator could set his award, the Iraq . .

Cited by:
Appeal fromForce India Formula One Team Ltd v Etihad Airways PJSC and Another CA 6-Oct-2010
The claimant complained of the failure to honour its sponsorship agreement of its Formula 1 racing team. The court at first instance had found the breaches to have been waived.
Held: Rix LJ discussed the consequences of a breach, saying: ‘this . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Contract

Leading Case

Updated: 12 January 2022; Ref: scu.377861