Digital Equipment Corporation v. Desktop Direct, Inc. (511 U.S. 863)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided June 6, 1994 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 511 U.S. 863 · 114 S. Ct. 1992
- Decided
- June 6, 1994
- Term
- October Term 1993
- Vote
- 9–0
- Majority author
- Justice Souter
- Issue area
- Judicial Power
- Disposition
- Affirmed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party lost
- Ideological direction
- Conservative
Opinion excerpt
Justice Souter delivered the opinion of the Court. Section 1291 of the Judicial Code confines appeals as of right to those from “final decisions of the district courts.” 28 U. S. C. § 1291. This case raises the question whether an order vacating a dismissal predicated on the parties’ settlement agreement is final as a collateral order even without a district court’s resolution of the underlying cause of action. See Cohen v. Beneficial Industrial Loan Corp., 337 U. S. 541, 546 (1949). We hold that an order denying effect to a settlement agreement does not come within the narrow ambit of collateral orders. I Respondent, Desktop Direct, Inc. (Desktop), sells computers and like equipment under the trade name “Desktop Direct.” Petitioner, Digital Equipment Corporation, is engaged in a similar business and in late 1991 began using that trade name to market a new service it called “Desktop Direct from Digital.” In response, Desktop filed this action in the United States District Court for the District of Utah, charging Digital with unlawful use of the Desktop Direct name. Desktop sent Digital a copy of the complaint, and negotiations between officers of the two corporations ensued. Under a confidential settlement reached on March 25, 1992, Digital agreed to pay Desktop a sum of money for the right to use the “Desktop Direct” trade name and corresponding trademark, and for waiver of…
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