Breach: 03. Breach of Contract, Implied

“A cause of action for breach of implied contract has the same elements as does a cause of action for breach of contract, except that the promise is not expressed in words but is implied from the promisor's conduct.”

Yari v. Producers Guild of America, Inc., 161 Cal. App. 4th 172, 182 (2008).

“An implied contract is one, the existence and terms of which are manifested by conduct.” Cal. Civ. Code § 1621.

A course of conduct can show an implied promise. Varni Bros. Corp. v. Wine World, Inc., 35 Cal.App.4th 880, 889 (1995).

The elements of a breach of implied contract in connection with the submission of ideas requires:

1. In an idea submission case such as this, to prevail on a cause of action for breach of implied-in-fact contract, [] plaintiffs must show
   1. they clearly conditioned the submission of their ideas on an obligation to pay for any use of their ideas;
   2. the defendants, knowing this condition before the plaintiffs disclosed the ideas, voluntarily accepted the submission of the ideas; and
   3. the defendants found the ideas valuable and actually used them—that is, the defendants based their work substantially on the plaintiffs’ ideas, rather than on their own ideas or ideas from other sources.

Subscribers To The California Litigation Guide Can See:

• The rest of the elements for this cause of action;
• The citations to the most recent state and federal court cases citing the cause of action;
• The statute of limitations; and
• The defenses to this cause of action.

Click Here To See A Sample Chapter From The Guide

Subscribe to The California Litigation Guide To Access Everything!