Cite as: 509 U. S. 443 (1993)
Opinion of Stevens, J.
ment rights would have been "frivolous," 5 TXO made two attempts to lend substance to such a claim. First, after unsuccessfully trying to convince Virginia Crews that it had an interest in the oil and gas, TXO paid the company $6,000 for a quitclaim deed conveying whatever interest it might have to TXO. TXO recorded the deed without advising Alliance.6 Second, TXO unsuccessfully attempted to induce Mr. Signaigo to execute a false affidavit indicating that the 1958 deed might have included oil and gas rights.
On July 12, after having recorded the quitclaim deed, TXO wrote to Alliance asserting that there was a title objection and implying that TXO might well have acquired the oil and gas rights from Virginia Crews. It then arranged a meeting in August and attempted to renegotiate the royalty arrangement. When the negotiations were unsuccessful, TXO commenced this litigation. According to the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals, TXO "knowingly and intentionally brought a frivolous declaratory judgment action" when its "real intent" was "to reduce the royalty payments under a 1,002.74 acre oil and gas lease," and thereby "increas[e] its interest in the oil and gas rights." 7
TXO's declaratory judgment action was decided on the basis of the parties' written submissions. The court granted
5 In the words of the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals: "In this case, TXO Production Corporation, a subsidiary of USX, knowingly and intentionally brought a frivolous declaratory judgment action against the appellees to clear a purported cloud on title." 187 W. Va., at 462, 419 S. E. 2d, at 875.
6 According to an internal TXO memorandum, TXO viewed the quitclaim deed as offering "a chance of the court conferring TXO with 100% interest in the O[il] & G[as] estate as opposed to having a 78% net lease if the court rules in favor of Tug Fork's title." Plaintiff's Exhibit No. 8 (TXO Production Corp. Inter-Office Memorandum (May 30, 1985)). The West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals referred to TXO's acquisition and recording of the quitclaim deed as nothing less than "an attempt to steal [Alliance's] land." 187 W. Va., at 468, 419 S. E. 2d, at 881.
7 Id., at 462, 464, 419 S. E. 2d, at 875, 877.
449
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