Opinion ID: 355448
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Inter Alia

Text: 193 Despite evidence that Spectrofuge's own conduct contributed to the institution and continuation of the credit hold, we believe there was sufficient evidence, particularly that relating to Beckman employees' almost cheerful announcement of Spectrofuge's credit woes, to present a jury question on plaintiff's unfair competition count. We therefore affirm the final judgment as it relates to the common law claim. 194 Spectrofuge was awarded $25,000 in attorneys' fees and we have now held it proved no antitrust violations. Ordinarily, we would be inclined to remand to the District Court the evaluation of the fee award in light of Johnson v. Georgia Highway Express, Inc., 5 Cir., 1974, 488 F.2d 714, 717-19. However, because the plaintiff was ultimately unsuccessful and because of our conviction that the antitrust claim bordered on the frivolous although it has taken these endless pages to demonstrate it (see Johnson factor 10, id. at 719, the undesirability of the case), we feel fully justified in sparing everyone involved further wasted time and effort on a case which should never have been brought in federal court in the first instance. 101 Therefore, we reverse the attorneys' fee award. 195 Beckman asserts that the trial court erred in not granting its motion for a new trial on the counterclaim for unfair competition and § 1 violations (pirating employees and misappropriation of confidential information). Suffice it to say that the District Court did not abuse its discretion in denying this motion. E. g., Sulmeyer v. Coca Cola Co., 5 Cir., 1975, 515 F.2d 835, 852. 196 Our previous holdings dispose of the other issues raised by the parties. 197 AFFIRMED IN PART, REVERSED IN PART, AND REMANDED. ------------------------------------------------- EXHIBIT $230A ------------------------------------------------- IDENT- 19 ------------------------------------------------- EVID-423 1975 ------------------------------------------------- Trial ( )X Motion ( ) ------------------------------------------------- SPECTROFUGE, et al. ------------------------------------------------- VS. BECKMAN ------------------------------------------------- CASE 73-1437-CIV-WA NO. ------------------------------------------------- JOSEPH I. DOGART, CLERK U. S. DIST. CT.- SO. DIST. FLA. By.....Cygar......................... ------------------------------------------------- APPENDIX A ---------- SUMMARY OF PLAINTIFF'S EXHIBITS 166-230 ------------------------------------------------ Call Exh. Invoice Univ. Type of Date No. No. Machine ------------------------------------------------ 9/11/72 166 437336 VA MIA L 9/12/72 167 437338 EPA MIA L2-50 9/21/72 168 438408 UF L2-65B 11/10/72 169 438500 UF L2-65B 12/22/72 170 438853 UF L 3/2/73 171 477860 UF L 3/14/73 172 478065 UNC L3-40 4/13/73 173 439758 Duke L 4/17/73 174 439578 NCSU L2-50 4/23/73 175 438262 UCOR L2-50 4/23/73 176 438263 UCOR L2-50 5/10/73 177 477077 UCOR L2-65 5/14/73 178 506282 UNC L2-65B 5/21/73 179 477029 UF L3-50 5/30/73 180 506294 UNC L2-50 6/7/73 181 477098 UCOR L2-50 6/7/73 182 477099 UCOR L2-65B 6/29/73 183 505909 NCSU L2-65B 7/6/73 184 505921 VA Durham L 7/24/73 185 476192 VA Durham L 8/21/73 186 506201 VA Durham L2-50 8/28/73 187 477069 U MIA L2-50 9/4/73 188 506152 VA Durham L2-50 9/7/73 189 506917 U MIA L2-50 9/24/73 190 506199 NCSU L2-65B 9/26/73 191 516820 UCMD L 10/12/73 192 504868 VA Durham L2-50 10/15/73 193 502075 UCMD L 10/19/73 194 504926 VA Durham L2-50 10/26/73 195 504936 UNC L2-65B 10/31/73 196 504941 UNC L3-50 11/8/73 197 477249 UCOR L 11/12/73 198 504768 VA Durham L2-50 11/30/73 199 504987 UNC L2-65B 12/19/73 200 475727 UCOR L2-50 12/19/73 201 475726 UCOR L2-65B 1/2/74 202 476037 UNC L3-50 1/16/74 203 476048 VA Durham L 2/21/74 204 562343 UNC L2-50 2/5/74 205 477293 UCOR L2-65B 2/7/74 206 562318 VA Durham L 3/12/74 207 475899 VA Durham L2-50 3/18/74 208 475834 UCOR L3-50 3/18/74 209 475835 UCOR L 3/18/74 210 475836 UCOR L 3/19/74 211 475837 UCOR L2-65 3/19/74 212 475838 UCOR E 4/1/74 213 475949 UF L2-50 5/3/74 214 546889 Duke L3-50 5/15/74 214A 588839 UF L2-50 5/21/74 215 588917 UCOR L2-65B 5/21/74 216 621811 UCOR L2-50 5/24/74 217 505331 Duke L 6/20/74 218 588860 UF L2-65B 8/2/74 219 622105 UM L2-50 8/5/74 220 622175 UT L 10/17/74 221 595212.1 Duke L3-40 11/3/74 222 595223 Duke L3-50 11/22/74 223 622433 Duke L3-50 11/27/74 224 590735 UF L2-50 11/27/74 225 622263 UT L 12/12/74 226 660380 NCSU E 12/12/74 227 660381 UNC E 12/18/74 228 650777 VA MIA L 12/18/74 229 660387 Duke L 12/23/74 230 660392 UNC L3-50  Reimbursed by Customer TABLE CONTINUED Drive Drive Drive Labor Travel Total Actual Prorated Differential Differential Charge Charge --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 223.50 (743M) 223.50 0 30.00 20.00 50.00 292.5 (973M) 292.50 0 30.00 20.00 50.00 477.00 (198B) 477.00 0 30.00 20.00 50.00 Unknown (1.23B) Unknown 0 30.00 20.00 50.00 480.00 (2.5B) 480.00 0 30.00 20.00 50.00 381.00 (1.41B) 381.00 0 30.00 20.00 50.00 Unknown (9.5B) Unknown 0 20.00 20.00 40.00 480.00 (2.6B) 480.00 0 40.00 10.00 50.00 342.00 (1.14B) 342.00 0 20.00 20.00 40.00 382.00 (1.41B) 382.00 0 40.00 40.00 80.00 213.00 (708M) 213.00 0 40.00 40.00 80.00 540.00 (5.4B) 540.00 0 250.00 100.00 350.00 437.25 (1.714B) 437.25 0 50.00 25.00 75.00 480.00 (4.6B) 480.00 0 50.00 25.00 75.00 480.00 (1.509B) 391.99 89.00 37.50 25.00 151.50 480.00 (4.9B) 480.00 0 50.00 62.50 112.50 371.25 (1.27B) 371.25 0 75.00 62.50 137.50 540.00 (2.6B) 540.00 0 37.50 25.00 62.50 480.00 (2.4B) 480.00 0 25.00 12.50 37.50 360.00 (2.751M) 0 360.00 50.00 12.50 422.50 433.00 (1.928B) 433.00 0 37.50 12.50 50.00 480.00 (1.623B) 403.00 77.00  37.50  25.00  139.50  0 (643K) 0 0 0 0 0 480.00 (5.16B) 480.00 0 100.00 50.00 150.00 360.00 (39M) 0 360.00 50.00 25.00 435.00 480.00 (2.8B) 480.00 0 112.50 50.00 162.50 360.00 (571M) 172.50 187.50  12.50 50.00 250.00 360.00 (54M/3.8M) 0 360.00 100.00 50.00 510.00 0 (84M) 0 0 0 0 0 540.00 (5.28B) 540.00 0 75.00 25.00 100.00 480.00 (8.0B) 480.00 0 62.50 25.00 87.50 480.00 (unknown) 480.00 0 50.00 100.00 150.00 0 (320M) 96.00 0 75.00 12.50 87.50 360.00 (134M) 40.20 319.80 75.00 25.00 419.80 468.00 (2.28B) 468.00 0 50.00 37.50 87.50 412.50 (1.54B) 412.50 0 50.00 37.50 87.50 360.00 (819M) 246.00 114.00 62.50 25.00 201.50 360.00 (543M) 163.50 196.50  75.00 12.50 284.00 392.00 (1.5B) 392.00 0 62.50 25.00 87.50 540.00 (3.4B) 540.00 0 150.00 50.00 200.00 360.00 (317M) 96.00 264.00  50.00 12.50 326.50 428.00 (1.88B) 428.00 0 25.00 12.50 37.50 480.00 (5.6B) 480.00 0 50.00  50.00 100.00  480.00 (4.15B) 480.00 0 50.00 25.00 75.00 480.00 (unknown) 480.00 0 50.00 25.00 75.00 540.00 (3.7B) 540.00 0 50.00 50.00 100.00 474.00 (2B. k) 474.00 0 62.50 50.00 112.50 480.00 (2.7B) 480.00 0 37.50 25.00 62.50 480.00 (6.1B) 480.00 0 50.00 12.50 62.50 0 0 0 0 0 0 540.00 (7.5B) 540.00 0 56.00 126.00 182.00 480.00 (4.9B) 480.00 0 56.00 112.00 168.00 360.00 (619M) 186.00 174.00  56.00 14.00 244.00 540.00 (9.89B) 540.00 0 42.00 28.00 70.00 301.50 (1.005B) 225.29 76.21  56.00 28.00 160.21 480.00 (7.4B) 480.00 0 28.00 0 28.00 560.00 (5.9B) 560.00 0 60.00 15.00 75.00 420.00 (718M) 133.58 286.42 105.00 15.00 406.42 420.00 (1.26B) 234.38 185.62 45.00 15.00 245.62 420.00 (422M) 94.53 325.47 45.00 30.00 400.47 560.00 (no FSR) Unknown 0 30.00 60.00 90.00 373.75 (1.409B) 373.75 0 60.00 45.00 105.00 300.00 (1.066B) 266.25 33.75 90.00 30.00 153.75 549.00 (Unknown) 549.00 0 75.00 45.00 120.00 420.00 (1.194B) 267.50 152.50 45.00 15.00 212.50 560.00 (7.4B) 560.00 0 30.00 45.00 75.00 APPENDIX B (Taken from DX 173A-173XX) DX Date No. of Shipping Date Delay Other Comments 173- Ordered Parts Instruc- Shipped (in Ordered tions days) (where shown) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A 5/1/72 2 Best way Unknown Unknown Ordered from EID in Illinois. No invoice in exhibit from which to determine shipping date. 5/1/72 5 Best way 5/23 22 Ordered 2 of Part (3 pts.) 576430; one shipped 6/28 58 on 6/28; the second (2 pts.) shipped on 7/21. 7/21 81 (1 pt.) B 7/7/72 1 Emergency 7/10 3 C 7/17/72 1 Emergency 7/20 3 D 9/6/72 2 Best way 9/13 7 E 9/8/72 4 Best way 9/25 17 (3 pts.) Unknown Unknown Part shipped from (1 pt.) location other than Fullerton. F 9/13/72 2 Emergency 9/14 1 G 9/19/72 4 Emergency 9/22 3 H 9/27/72 1 Rush 9/27 0 I 10/9/72 1 Emergency 10/10 1 J 10/10/72 2 Emergency 10/11 1 Shipped from (1 pt.) Fullerton. 10/13 3 Shipped out of (1 pt.) service (Atlanta). K 10/17/72 1 Emergency 10/18 1 L 11/10/72 2 Emergency 11/14 4 Both returned to Beckman. M 11/13/72 4 Rush 11/16 3 N 11/16/72 1 Emergency 11/21 5 O 11/21/72 1 Best way 12/13 22 P 11/21/72 4 Emergency 11/27 6 3 parts returned to (3 pts.) Beckman; customer 12/15 24 could not use. (1 pt.) Q 11/27/72 1 Emergency 11/28 1 Shipped from Mountainside. 11/27/72 2 Best way 1/22/73 56 Shipped from Fullerton. R 12/5/72 Emergency 12/20 15 Ordered to replace faulty material. Telex indicates Fullerton was out of stock. S 1/11/73 16 Rush 3/29 76 (1 pt.) Unknown Unknown No invoice in (15 exhibit from which pts.) to determine shipping date for other 15 parts. T 2/6/73 1 Best way 2/13 7 U 2/27/73 1 Rush 3/5 5 V 3/14/73 1 Rush 3/21 7 W 4/13/73 4 Best way 4/23 10 X 4/25/73 2 Rush 4/30 5 Y 5/8/73 1 Emergency 5/9 1 Z 5/8/73 1 ASAP 5/10 2 AA 5/9/73 3 Rush 6/6 28 Fullerton telexed (2 pts.) Atlanta on 5/14 that 6/27 49 2 pts. scheduled to (1 pt.) be shipped on 5/31; one part on 6/29. BB 5/24/73 2 Emergency 5/25 1 CC 5/31/73 1 Rush 6/14 14 DD 6/11/73 1) ASAP 8/7 57 Union Carbide--Dr. ) Popp. Circuit 2) 10/11 122 breaker. Damper assemblies. EE 6/15/73 5 ASAP 7/30 45 FF 6/15/73 1 Ship via 7/12 27 air parcel post GG 7/3/73 1 Best way 9/6 65 Board needed for Dr. Cirutti's instrument. HH 7/11/73 4 ASAP 7/17 6 II 7/25/73 1 ASAP 8/22 28 JJ 8/24/73 2 Ship via 9/18 25 air KK 8/30/73 4 Air mail 9/13 14 8/30/73 1 Air mail 10/16 47 LL 10/19/73 1 ASAP 11/30 42 Ordered to replace Best way faulty material. MM 11/27/73 1 Rush 12/5 8 NN 1/21/74 1 Best way unknown At Order least acknowledgement 57 estimated shipment date as 2/15; 3/19/74 Telex estimated shipping date as week of 3/25; no invoice in exhibit from which to determine shipping date. OO 4/15/74 1 Emergency 7/12 88 Part #869796 ordered; Part #580327 shipped. PP 5/16/74 1 ASAP unknown At Order Best way least acknowledgement 68 estimated shipping date as 8/15/74. Telex inquiry sent 7/23. QQ 8/16/74 2 8/20 4 RR 9/16/74 3 Needed in 10/2 16 20-30 days SS 10/16/74 1 Needed in 10/21 5 20-30 days TT 10/28/74 1 Rush 10/30 2 UU 11/6/74 2 Needed in 11/19 13 20-30 days VV 10/28/74 9 Needed in 11/22 25 Invoice includes 30-60 days (6 pts.) only 6 of unknown 9 parts ordered. (3 pts.) WW 7/16/74 1 7/25 9 XX 7/8/74 1 ASAP 7/16 8 Best way