Cate v. Dover Corp.
Supreme Court of Texas
790 S.W.2d 559 (Tex. 1990)
Cate (plaintiff) bought machinery from Dover Corporation (defendant) that malfunctioned, and sued for breach of the implied warranty of merchantability; Dover's written express warranty contained a disclaimer of implied warranties in a separate paragraph printed in the same typeface, size, and color as the surrounding warranty text, with no distinguishing formatting drawing attention to the exclusion specifically. Dover argued the disclaimer barred Cate's claim.
Whether a written disclaimer of the implied warranty of merchantability satisfies the UCC's conspicuousness requirement when it is printed in the same typeface, size, and color as the rest of the warranty document, and whether a buyer's actual knowledge of a disclaimer can substitute for conspicuousness.