Opinion ID: 4076467
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: PDS Systems and Maintenance9

Text: The other Avaya equipment at issue in this case is the PDS system, the market for which is substantially smaller than the PBX market. Avaya presented evidence at trial that no more than 840 Avaya PDS systems were installed nationwide (about 20% of the total PDS market), with Avaya providing maintenance service to about 200 of those customers.10 PDS systems tend to induce less long-term 9 The phrase “PDS system” is redundant (because the “S” in PDS is “system”), but we use it for its colloquial ease, as the District Court did. 10 Because of the relatively small size of the PDS maintenance market, none of Avaya’s Business Partners has become a PDS maintenance provider. 14 intra-brand reliance than PBXs because the cost of an entirely new PDS is similar to the cost of upgrading an existing system. The PDS market is similar to the PBX market in at least one important respect. In both, Avaya says, the profits from maintenance contracts help fund the development of new systems and the upgrades of existing systems. Avaya regularly updates its PDS software with patches to “fix bugs or adapt the product to changing circumstances.” (Opening Br. at 14.) Prior to 2007, patches were available for free to PDS customers on Avaya’s website; after 2007, customers who purchased new PDS systems could only receive patches if they purchased a minimum of one year of software support from Avaya.