Statue of Limitations – Laches Doctrine

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: Charles Greenhill and Amphib, Inc. v. Richard M. Vartanian, et al.

Case No.: 17-3526

Officials: WOOD, Chief Judge, and EASTERBROOK and ST. EVE, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Statue of Limitations – Laches Doctrine

Hermann Göring, head of the Luftwaffe in World War II, remarked: “When I saw those Mustangs over Berlin, I knew that the war was lost.” The P-51 Mustang fighter entered service in January 1942, and long-range variants introduced late in 1943 could escort Allied bombers to Germany and back. (With external fuel tanks, they had a range exceeding 1,600 miles.) More than 15,500 Mustangs were built; the plane served as this nation’s main fighter until jets succeeded it during the Korean War. Some Mustangs remained in military use in other nations until 1984. The picture below shows one of the long-range versions. Surviving aircraft are collector’s items, “warbirds” lovingly rebuilt and maintained by private aficionados, displayed in museums, and occasionally flown at air shows. One is in the collection of the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum. The Federal Aviation Administration has more than 100 airworthy Mustangs on its register today. This suit is about one of them—or perhaps s two of them.

Still more: Even if Illinois would not apply a statute of limitations, the doctrine of laches would remain. Between 1985 and the beginning of this suit Waterman Brown died, and the parties’ inability to obtain his evidence would cause prejudice that is amributable to Vartanian’s long delay. Four other potential witnesses died in the decades between 1985 and the filing of Vartanian’s counterclaim; they might have addressed topics such as whether Vartanian abandoned the plane between 1965 and 1985. All of the principals (Vartanian, Greenhill, and Martin) are in their 80s and experiencing difficulty remembering events of decades ago. Important business records from the 1960s through the 1990s cannot be located. It is too late for the judicial system to make a reliable decision about what happened to Vartanian’s plane (or parts of it) and which components of Greenhill’s plane might be traced to the Mustang that the Royal Canadian Air Force sold as surplus in 1960.

Affirmed

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Derek A Hawkins is trademark corporate counsel for Harley-Davidson. Hawkins oversees the prosecution and maintenance of the Harley-Davidson’s international trademark portfolio in emerging markets.