Ride the Ducks of Philadelphia, LLC v. Duck Boat Tours, Inc.

Ride the Ducks of Philadelphia, LLC (Ride the Ducks) (plaintiff) conducted tours in Philadelphia on amphibious vehicles known as duck boats, which traveled through Philadelphia and then entered the Delaware River via a ramp. Ride the Ducks was authorized to conduct these tours by a 10-year license agreement with Penn’s Landing Corporation (Penn’s Landing), a non-profit organization with municipality-conferred authority to contract for construction near the Delaware River. Pursuant to the contract, Ride the Ducks was the exclusive user of the ramp. Ride the Ducks had spent $585,000 to build the ramp and was paying a $50,000 yearly licensing fee and a portion of its gross revenues. Duck Boat Tours, Inc., trading as Super Ducks (Super Ducks) (defendant), which also owned duck boats, sought to negotiate with Ride the Ducks for shared use of the ramp. When Ride the Ducks declined, Super Ducks wrote a letter to Penn’s Landing stating that Super Ducks would use the ramp with or without permission. Ride the Ducks filed a motion for a preliminary injunction and a petition for a temporary restraining order, arguing that Super Ducks was threatening trespass, conversion, and tortious interference with the license agreement. The federal district court granted the temporary restraining order pending a hearing on the preliminary injunction. Following the hearing, the district court granted the preliminary injunction, agreeing that Super Ducks’ threatened use would be tortious interference. Super Ducks appealed.