Opinion ID: 368855
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Restriction of Kodacolor II to the 110 Format

Text: 111 There is another aspect to Berkey's claim that introduction of Kodacolor II simultaneously with the Pocket Instamatic camera was anticompetitive. For eighteen months after the 110 system introduction, Kodacolor II was available only in the 110 format. Since Kodak was the first to have the 110s on the market, Berkey asserts it lost camera sales because consumers who wished to use the remarkable new film would be compelled to buy a Kodak camera. This facet of the claim, of course, is not dependent on a showing that Kodacolor II was inferior in any respect to Kodacolor X. Quite the opposite is true. The argument is that, since consumers were led to believe that Kodacolor II was superior to Kodacolor X, they were more likely to buy a Kodak 110, rather than a Berkey camera, so that the new film could be used. 112 Where a course of action is ambiguous, consideration of intent may play an important role in divining the actual nature and effect of the alleged anticompetitive conduct, United States v. United States Gypsum Co., 438 U.S. 422, 436 n.13, 98 S.Ct. 2864, 2873 n.13, 57 L.Ed. 854 (1978); Accord, e. g., Sargent-Welch Scientific Co., supra, 567 F.2d at 712. We shall assume Arguendo that Kodak violated § 2 of the Sherman Act if its decision to restrict Kodacolor II to the 110 format was not justified by the nature of the film but was motivated by a desire to impede competition in the manufacture of cameras capable of using the new film. This might well supply the element of coercion we found lacking in the previous section. We shall assume also that there was sufficient evidence for the jury to conclude that the initial decision to market Kodacolor II exclusively in the 110 format during its introductory period was indeed taken for anticompetitive purposes. 42 113 But to prevail, Berkey must prove more, for injury is an element of a private treble damages action. Berkey must, therefore, demonstrate that some consumers who would have bought a Berkey camera were dissuaded from doing so because Kodacolor II was available only in the 110 format. This it has failed to establish. The record is totally devoid of evidence that Kodak or its retailers actually attempted to persuade customers to purchase the Pocket Instamatic because it was the only camera that could use Kodacolor II, or that, in fact, any consumers did choose the 110 in order to utilize the finer-grained film. 114 To be sure, some of Kodak's advertisements emphasized the superior qualities of Kodacolor II, but the gist of these messages was merely that Kodacolor II, unlike previous films, would yield, big, sharp pictures from a small camera. In short, Kodak simply claimed to have achieved its goal of truly developing a Pocket Instamatic system whose color prints would be as close as possible to the prints currently obtained from 126-size Kodacolor X. Stressing the pocketability of the 110 format, Kodak did not emphasize Kodacolor II as an independent reason to choose a photography system. Little of the advertising mentioned Kodacolor II by name. Of even greater weight is the fact that none in any way implied that the new film was available only in the 110 size. Accordingly, the content of Kodak's publicity, standing alone, would not permit a jury rationally to infer that Berkey was injured by the restriction of Kodacolor II to the 110 format. 115 The abstract possibility nevertheless remains that there might have been some customers who would have purchased a Berkey camera in one of the pre-existing formats but decided to select a Kodak 110 instead because they were aware that there was no alternative means of using Kodacolor II, even in the absence of advertising to that effect. Yet, although millions of amateur photographers bought Pocket Instamatics, Berkey did not produce anyone at the trial to testify that he was so motivated. Nor did Berkey present the testimony of camera dealers, or evidence of any kind, to establish that such customers existed. Indeed, Berkey declined to challenge the testimony of a camera dealer that he never promoted the fact that Kodacolor II was available only in the 110 size. 43 We expressed our concern over the absence of such evidence at oral argument, but Berkey's post-argument brief 44 did not point to any relevant items in the record that we had overlooked. We conclude, therefore, that the jury could not find that Berkey suffered more than De minimis injury, if any, because Kodacolor II was limited to the 110 format. Although the antitrust laws afford latitude in permitting the factfinder to estimate the extent of the damages where precise calculation is impossible, they do not allow recovery where there has been no showing that plaintiff suffered cognizable injury. Story Parchment Co. v. Paterson Parchment Paper Co., 282 U.S. 555, 562-63, 51 S.Ct. 248, 26 L.Ed.2d 83 (1931); See Zenith Radio Corp. v. Hazeltine Research, Inc., 395 U.S. 100, 123, 89 S.Ct. 1562, 23 L.Ed.2d 129 (1969); Gottesman v. General Motors Corp., 436 F.2d 1205, 1210 (2d Cir. 1971). 116 Voluminous discovery and a prolonged trial have already given Berkey more than ample opportunity to adduce evidence, which it failed to do, in support of its consistently maintained claim that it lost camera sales because of restriction of Kodacolor II to the 110 format. It would make a mockery of the adversary system in a case of this character, where great expenditures of time and money have been made and where the plaintiff was represented by counsel of extraordinary ability and experience, to afford a new trial so that missing elements of proof could be produced, if, indeed, they exist. 117 To summarize our conclusions on the 110 camera claims, we hold: 118 1. Kodak was under no obligation to predisclose information of its new film and format to its camera-making competitors. 119 2. It is no basis for antitrust liability that Kodacolor II, despite certain deficiencies compared to Kodacolor X, may have encouraged sales of the 110 camera.3. Finally, although the restriction of Kodacolor II to the 110 format may have been unjustified, there was no evidence that Berkey was injured by this course of action. 120 We, therefore, reverse so much of the judgment as awarded Berkey damages based on the introduction of the 110 camera. 45 121