Sussex-based Quad/Graphics Inc. has dropped its lawsuit against Iowa-based publisher Meredith Corp., according to federal court records.
Quad initially filed the case in Waukesha County Circuit Court after the two companies disagreed on printing and shipping specifications for a number of magazine titles including InSytle, Southern Living, Cooking Light, Health, Real Simple, Coastal Living, Travel + Leisure and Food + Wine.
After Quad said it could not agree to the additional specifications, Meredith said it would terminate the contracts. Quad claimed the specifications would require significant capital investments and that the publisher’s actions were “orchestrated to exact improper economic leverage over Quad.”
Meredith removed the case and filed a motion to dismiss. Quad then filed an amended complaint and Meredith again sought to have the case thrown out.
The publisher argued the contract included “significant flexibility,” including the ability for Meredith to change specifications. Quad could accept, reject or propose new terms and Meredith could accept them or terminate the agreement, attorneys for Meredith said.
“Quad elected to reject those changes, and Meredith elected to terminate the contracts. Quad simply cannot overcome the fact that Meredith complied with the explicit terms of the contracts and thus could not have breached them as a matter of law,” Meredith’s attorneys wrote in a brief.
About two weeks after Meredith filed its second motion to dismiss, Quad filed to voluntarily dismiss the case.
Claire Ho, a spokeswoman for Quad/Graphics, declined to comment on why the company was dropping its lawsuit.
