Following Artpower, parties should ensure they properly terminate the contract after breach, says Michael Hannon
Many commercial contracts contain provisions allowing a party in breach of the contract a period in which to remedy the breach, once given notice of it from the innocent party. If the breaching party fails to remedy, the innocent party may be entitled to terminate the contract. In Artpower Ltd v Bespoke Couture Ltd [2006] EWCA Civ 1696, [2006] All ER (D) 35 (Nov) the Court of Appeal considered whether the wording of such a clause had the effect of automatically terminating the contract once the period for remedy had expired—where the breach remained unremedied—or whether the innocent party had to take further positive action to terminate.
Background
Artpower concerned a company owned by Ozwald Boateng, the well-known men’s fashion designer (Bespoke Couture) and its relationship with Artpower Ltd (Artpower). The governing contract provided for Artpower to design, produce and sell clothing from one of Bespoke Couture’s menswear ranges based on sketches provided by it, and to use, exclusively, particular Ozwald Boateng trademarks for the purpose. In return, Bespoke Couture
