MindGames, Inc. v. Western Publishing

MindGames (plaintiff), maker of the board game Clever Endeavor, licensed it to Western Publishing (defendant) in 1990 for a 15 percent royalty, with the contract running until January 1993 and renewable if Western paid at least $1.5 million or, in later years, a $300,000 annual fee; in the game's best year, Western paid $600,000 in royalties on 195,000 copies sold, but sales declined afterward, Western paid nothing further, and the relationship ended in early 1994. MindGames sued for, among other things, $40 million in lost royalties it claimed it would have earned had Western properly marketed the game as required, and the district court granted Western summary judgment.