page_title: Besser Mfg. Co. v. United States
section_title: Ruling by Supreme Court
hierarchical_section_title: Besser Mfg. Co. v. United States / Ruling by Supreme Court
caption_attribution_description: Robert H. Jackson
context_page_description: Besser Mfg. Co. v. United States, 343 U.S. 444, is a 1951 patent–antitrust decision of the United States Supreme Court in which the Court upheld a ruling that the dominant U.S. manufacturer of concrete block–making machines violated the antitrust laws when it acquired its two principal competitors, bought important patents, made bad–faith threats of patent infringement suits, and entered into patent licensing agreements in which the parties were given veto powers over any prospective additional licensees. The Supreme Court approved the district court's grant of compulsory, reasonable–royalty licensing of the patents and compulsory sales of patented machines, holding that such relief "is a well–recognized remedy where patent abuses are proved in antitrust actions, and it is required for effective relief."
context_section_description: Justice Robert H. Jackson delivered the unanimous opinion of the Supreme Court, affirming the judgment below.
  Only the Besser Company and its president, Jesse H. Besser, appealed. The Court began by stating "that the conclusions of the trial judge that appellants conspired to restrain and monopolize interstate commerce in concrete block-making machinery and that they monopolized and attempted to monopolize that industry are overwhelmingly supported." The Court therefore rejected Besser's argument that the evidence did not show the antitrust violation that the district court has found.
  Besser opposed the reasonable royalty, compulsory licensing order as "punitive, confiscatory and inappropriate." The Court responded that "compulsory patent licensing is a well recognized remedy where patent abuses are proved in antitrust actions, and it is required for effective relief."
  The Court therefore affirmed the judgment of the district court.
caption: Justice Jackson delivered the unanimous opinion of the Supreme Court, affirming the district court's judgment
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