Eastman Kodak Co. v. Image Technical Services, Inc., 504 U.S. 451, 10 (1992)

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460

EASTMAN KODAK CO. v. IMAGE TECHNICAL SERVICES, INC.

Opinion of the Court

The Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, by a divided vote, reversed. 903 F. 2d 612 (1990). With respect to the § 1 claim, the court first found that whether service and parts were distinct markets and whether a tying arrangement existed between them were disputed issues of fact. Id., at 615-616. Having found that a tying arrangement might exist, the Court of Appeals considered a question not decided by the District Court: Was there "an issue of material fact as to whether Kodak has sufficient economic power in the tying product market [parts] to restrain competition appreciably in the tied product market [service]." Id., at 616. The court agreed with Kodak that competition in the equipment market might prevent Kodak from possessing power in the parts market, but refused to uphold the District Court's grant of summary judgment "on this theoretical basis" because "market imperfections can keep economic theories about how consumers will act from mirroring reality." Id., at 617. Noting that the District Court had not considered the market power issue, and that the record was not fully developed through discovery, the court declined to require respondents to conduct market analysis or to pinpoint specific imperfections in order to withstand summary judgment.4 "It is enough that [respondents] have presented evidence of actual events from which a reasonable trier of fact could conclude that . . . competition in the [equipment] market does not, in reality, curb Kodak's power in the parts market." Ibid.

4 Specifically, the Court of Appeals explained that the District Court had denied the request for further discovery made by respondents in their opposition to Kodak's summary judgment motion: "For example, [respondents] requested to depose two ISO customers who allegedly would not sign accurate statements concerning Kodak's market power in the parts market. Not finding it necessary to reach the market power issue in its decision, the district court, of course, had no reason to grant this request." 903 F. 2d, at 617, n. 4.

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