54
Opinion of the Court
PRE's contention that the copyright action was indeed sham and that Columbia could not claim Noerr immunity. The Court of Appeals characterized "sham" litigation as one of two types of "abuse of . . . judicial processes": either " 'misrepresentations . . . in the adjudicatory process' " or the pursuit of " 'a pattern of baseless, repetitive claims' " instituted " 'without probable cause, and regardless of the merits.' " 944 F. 2d, at 1529 (quoting California Motor Transport Co. v. Trucking Unlimited, 404 U. S. 508, 513, 512 (1972)). PRE neither "allege[d] that the [copyright] lawsuit involved misrepresentations" nor "challenge[d] the district court's finding that the infringement action was brought with probable cause, i. e., that the suit was not baseless." 944 F. 2d, at 1530. Rather, PRE opposed summary judgment solely by arguing that "the copyright infringement lawsuit [was] a sham because [Columbia] did not honestly believe that the infringement claim was meritorious." Ibid.
The Court of Appeals rejected PRE's contention that "subjective intent in bringing the suit was a question of fact precluding entry of summary judgment." Ibid. Instead, the court reasoned that the existence of probable cause "preclude[d] the application of the sham exception as a matter of law" because "a suit brought with probable cause does not fall within the sham exception to the Noerr-Pennington doctrine." Id., at 1531, 1532. Finally, the court observed that PRE's failure to show that "the copyright infringement action was baseless" rendered irrelevant any "evidence of [Columbia's] subjective intent." Id., at 1533. It accordingly rejected PRE's request for further discovery on Columbia's intent.
Columbia's other allegedly anticompetitive acts. Id., at 1529. Thus, whatever antitrust injury Columbia inflicted must have stemmed from the attempted enforcement of copyrights, and we do not consider whether Columbia could have made a valid claim of immunity for anticompetitive conduct independent of petitioning activity. Cf. Continental Ore Co. v. Union Carbide & Carbon Corp., 370 U. S. 690, 707-708 (1962).
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