Tuesday, March 07, 2006

Patent does not equal market power (for tying)

The US Supreme Court delivered its judgment in Illinois Tool Works, Inc v. Independent Ink, Inc. That case was over a tying matter in industrial ink printers but ended up in the Supreme Court over the presumption that having a patent equated to a finding of market power (in this case, for Illinois Tool Works).

The Supreme Court decided that for tying cases, this presumption no longer holds and the plaintiff will have to prove market power. Shouldn't be too difficult in this one where the plaintiff has a 90% market share with lots of entry barriers.

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