Jack Jacobs, Inc. v. Allied Systems Co.

Defendants 1 design and manufacture marine cranes. Plaintiff 2 was the exclusive distributor of the cranes in the United States and Canada. Under the terms of the exclusive distributorship agreement, plaintiff was required to “purchase and pay for” 4.5 million dollars in “minimum net dollar sales” in calendar year 1979, the first year of that agreement. If plaintiff failed to meet the minimum sales requirement, defendants could terminate the agreement on 60-days written notice “if the distributor does not make up the deficiency within such 60 day period.”

A termination notice, dated November…