Legal Case Summary
Entores v Miles Far East Corp [1955] 2 QB 327
Contract – Acceptance – Postal Rule – Damages – Instantaneous communication
Facts
The complainants, Entores, were a company that was based in London. They had sent an offer to purchase 100 tons of copper cathodes to the defendants, Miles Far East Corp. Their company was based in Amsterdam and this offer was communicated by Telex, a form of instantaneous communication. The Dutch company sent an acceptance of this offer by Telex to the complainants. When the contract was not fulfilled, the complainants tried to sue the defendants for damages.
Issues
In order to decide whether the action for damages should arise in English or Dutch law, the court had to decide the moment of acceptance of the contract. If it was when the contract acceptance was sent, damages would be dealt with under Dutch law. If acceptance was when it was received, then it would be under English law.
Decision/Outcome
The court held that the contract and damages were to be decided by English law. It was stated that the postal rule did not apply for instantaneous communications. Since Telex was a form of instant messaging, the normal postal rule of acceptance would not apply and instead, acceptance would be when the message by Telex was received. Thus, the contract was created in London. This general principle on acceptance was held to apply to all forms of instantaneous communication methods. Acceptance via these forms of communication had to be clear before any contract is created.
Updated 19 March 2026
This case summary remains accurate. Entores Ltd v Miles Far East Corporation [1955] 2 QB 327 continues to be good law on the rule that acceptance by instantaneous communication takes effect upon receipt, not dispatch. The principle has been affirmed and applied in subsequent case law, most notably by the House of Lords in Brinkibon Ltd v Stahag Stahl und Stahlwarenhandel GmbH [1983] 2 AC 34, which confirmed the Entores receipt rule for telex communications and acknowledged that its precise application to communications sent outside business hours or through intermediaries may depend on the parties’ intentions and usage. Students should be aware that the courts have not yet definitively resolved how the receipt rule applies to all modern forms of electronic communication (such as email or messaging apps), and this remains an area of academic debate. No statutory provision has displaced the common law position described in this article.
