Antrim v. Pittman

Clyde Pittman, a buyer of corporate shares, claimed breach of an ancillary covenant by the seller not to compete. Part of the covenant restrained the seller, Patrick Antrim, from engaging in a “similar business as conducted by the corporation. ...” A jury returned a verdict for Pittman, and the district court overruled the motion of Antrim for judgment notwithstanding the verdict. Antrim appeals. He asserts that the interpretation of the covenant in the district court was erroneous and that it imposed on him a restraint unreasonable in character.

Antrim, owner of two-thirds of the issued and…