Transamerica Oil Corporation V. Lynes, 723 F.2d 758

723 F.2d 758 (1983)

TRANSAMERICA OIL CORPORATION, Plaintiff-Appellee,

v.

LYNES, INC. and Baker International Corporation, Defendants-Appellants.

No. 81-1505.

United States Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit.

December 21, 1983.

759*759 760*760 Stephen J. Jones of Hershberger, Patterson, Jones & Roth, Wichita, Kan., for defendants-appellants.

M. Ralph Baehr of Nieto, Baehr & Hollander, Wichita, Kan. (P. David Egan, Peabody, Kan., on brief), for plaintiff-appellee.

761*761 Before McWILLIAMS and LOGAN, Circuit Judges, and ARRAJ, District Judge.[*]

LOGAN, Circuit Judge.

This appeal arises out of a diversity action in which the plaintiff, Transamerica Oil Corporation, prevailed in a jury trial against Baker International Corporation and its subsidiary, Lynes Inc., for damages resulting from the breach of an express warranty. We must determine, under the Kansas Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), the appropriate statute of limitations and the effect and validity of disclaimers of warranties and limitations of remedies in invoices accompanying shipments of equipment.

Transamerica is in the business of drilling and completing oil and gas wells. Transamerica's president, Harold Brown, saw defendants' advertisement for "production injection packers" in a trade journal. A packer is a device inserted into an oil and gas well to seal off one zone from another, generally to stop water from entering the well bore and interfering with production. Frequently, packers are employed for temporary use in holes that have been cased and cemented.[1] The defendants' advertisement, however, stated that its production injection packer was suitable for permanent use in open holes. Because Brown wanted to avoid the expensive casing and cementing process he was interested in the advertised device. He telephoned Lynes and spoke with a sales representative. Lynes then sent Brown additional advertising and descriptive literature. This literature also stated that the production injection packer...