Yangtze Insurance Association v Indemnity Mutual Marine Assurance Co: CA 1908

The court considered the significance of a trade custom in interpreting a contract: ‘The general rule of construction is that words used in documents must receive their primary signification, unless the context of the instrument read as a whole, or surrounding contemporaneous circumstances, shew that the secondary meaning expresses the real intention of the parties, or unless the words are used in connection with some place, trade or the like, in which they have acquired the secondary meaning as their customary meaning quoad hoc’.

Judges:

Farwell LJ

Citations:

[1908] 2 KB 504

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

CitedRoche Products Ltd and Another v Kent Pharmaceuticals Ltd CA 20-Dec-2006
The defendant appealed summary judgment in a trade mark infringement case based on parallel imports of ACCU-CHEK blood testing strips for diabetics. The defendant said that the products were ‘CE’ marked and therefore intended for sale within the EU. . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Contract

Updated: 01 May 2022; Ref: scu.247524