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

Heading: Summary and Dispositions

Text: 163 The two issues we have discussed above establish the framework for a purchaser's action under § 2 of the Sherman Act. We believe this structure is not only compelled by law but sensible as well. The wrongful conduct rule indicates that a purchaser can recover for an overcharge paid to a violator of § 2 only to the extent that the price he paid exceeds that which would have been charged in the absence of anticompetitive action. An intermediate step in the analysis may be an attempt to estimate what the monopolist's market share would likely have been but for the illegitimate conduct; it would then be possible to gauge approximately what price the defendant would have been able to charge with that degree of market control. In any event, courts applying this rule must be aware of the practical limits of the burden of proof that may be demanded of treble damage plaintiffs. See Zenith Radio Corp., supra, 395 U.S. at 123, 91 S.Ct. 795; Bigelow v. RKO Radio Pictures, Inc., 327 U.S. 251, 264-65, 66 S.Ct. 574, 90 L.Ed. 652 (1946); Story Parchment Co., supra, 282 U.S. at 563, 51 S.Ct. 248. 164 It may, of course, be difficult for a purchaser to demonstrate that conduct occurring many years before the commencement of suit contributed to an overcharge that it paid within the limitations period. That, however, is no reason for denying it the opportunity to do so. The treble damage provision, 15 U.S.C. § 15, was intended in large part as an inducement to encourage potential plaintiffs to endure the considerable expense and labor of seeking recovery against violators of the antitrust laws. E. g., Reiter, supra, --- U.S. at ----, 99 S.Ct. 2326. 165 It is clear from our holdings that we believe both the film and color paper claims must be remanded for retrial. Judge Frankel upheld the film award for the entire excess of Kodak's prices over a hypothetical competitive price, although the only two examples of post-1969 conduct that he believed were wrongful could not have had a very large impact on Kodak's film prices. The verdict therefore cannot stand, but Berkey has a right to establish at a new trial that anticompetitive conduct, both before and after 1969, enhanced the price it paid for Kodak film. 166 Similarly, the judgment for Kodak on the color paper claim must be vacated. Judge Frankel did not allow the jury to consider pre-1969 conduct as a foundation for the verdict despite the concession by Kodak's own economic expert, to be discussed later, that the company's unlawful activities in years past may still have had a bearing on its power in the photographic paper market. Because Judge Frankel erred by instructing the jury on the competitive price theory of damages, however, we could not simply reinstate the large color paper award, even if we were to hold that the jury may validly have found that Kodak committed anticompetitive conduct in that market since 1969. 167 We have no occasion to consider the parties' arguments concerning the numerous other Kodak activities that, Berkey contends, were anticompetitive. Because of the general form of the verdicts, we have no way of knowing what the jury's findings were on these matters or which actions were believed to be anticompetitive. Nor do we know what the findings will be on retrial, if this litigation should continue. Indeed, now that we have set forth the broad outlines of principles in this area we earnestly hope that able counsel on both sides will find a way to dispose of this mammoth lawsuit without consuming more court time or incurring more legal expenses. If so, it will not be necessary to resolve any of the lesser questions. If not, there will be no need to retry the issue of monopoly power. Judge Frankel's instruction on this point appears to have been essentially correct, and there was clear evidence supporting the jury's implicit finding that Kodak held such power in the film and color paper markets.