Contracts - Help with "Battle of the Forms" Case please! Forum

[sethc]

The case is Commerce & Industry Ins. Co. v. Bayer Corp. and it is located in the section of the book (Crandall & Whaley) dealing with termination of the power of acceptance.

I've read through the case a couple of times (and 2-207 of the code) and I'm just completely lost on what's going on here and what the case is centered around. Could someone help in breaking this case down for me?

[traehekat]

http://www.4lawnotes.com/showthread.php?p=1530

[sethc]

Yeah, I read that before posting but it didn't do much for me..

[LAWYER2]

I thought the battle of the forms concept was a pretty simple concept. In Commerce and Industry Insurance Co. v. Bayer Corp. the issue was "[w]hether the arbitration clause in the purchase orders was part of the contractual arrangement between Defendant and Malden Mills." and the court ruled No due to UCC sec 207, that the terms of the original contract was based (a) terms that appear in the records of both parties; (b) terms, whether in a record or not, to which both parties agree; and (c) terms supplied or incorporated under any provision of this Act.
Which essentially means that since the arbitration clause was not in both parties it's "knocked out" and only the matching terms apply.

[irie]

lexis headnotes ftw?

[Bustang]

I didn't read the case, only that brief posted earlier:

If K for selling goods: 2-207(2). Additional terms will be added unless expressly limited acceptance. D here eliminated the arbitration clause and expressly limited their acceptance on the basis of their new terms. I assume P accepted via conduct, 2-207(3).

If K for services: Last shot rule. D's counter offer stands as the K the court will rule on if P acted in way to show they assented to its terms.