(DOWNLOAD) "Merican Inc. v. Caterpillar Tractor Co." by United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit * Book PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Merican Inc. v. Caterpillar Tractor Co.
- Author : United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
- Release Date : January 26, 1983
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 77 KB
Description
Opinion OF THE COURT HUNTER, Circuit Judge: 1. This interlocutory appeal requires us to address the limits imposed by Illinois Brick Co. v. Illinois, 431 U.S. 720, 52 L. Ed. 2d 707, 97 S. Ct. 2061 (1977), on liability for treble damages under section 4 of the Clayton Act, 15 U.S.C.A. § 15 (West Supp. 1983). The issue arises in an action filed by plaintiff-appellees Merican, Inc., Merican Curtis, Inc., and Merican Curtis, Ltd. (""Appellees"") against defendant-appellant Caterpillar Tractor Company (""Caterpillar""). Appellees allege that Caterpillar violated section 1 of the Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1 (1976), by illegally imposing a penalty on its dealers in order to eliminate the source of supply of Caterpillar products to Appellees and other independent marketers. Following the district court's denial of Caterpillar's motion to dismiss, we granted appellate review under 28 U.S.C. § 1292(b) (1976) to address the question of whether Appellees are precluded from maintaining a private damage action by operation of the rule of Illinois Brick. We hold that the district court misconstrued the scope of Illinois Brick and its progeny and that it erred by refusing to grant Caterpillar's motion to dismiss Appellees' claims for damages.