Opinion ID: 779906
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Federal and State Antitrust Claims

Text: 29 We affirm the district court's grant of summary judgment dismissing Golan's state and federal antitrust claims on alternate grounds. These claims cannot proceed because Golan failed to provide evidence that Pingel possessed monopoly power in the relevant market. 30 Under § 2 of the Sherman Act, [t]he offense of monopoly ... has two elements: (1) the possession of monopoly power in the relevant market and (2) the willful acquisition or maintenance of that power as distinguished from growth or development as a consequence of a superior product, business acumen, or historic accident. United States v. Grinnell Corp., 384 U.S. 563, 570-71, 86 S.Ct. 1698, 16 L.Ed.2d 778 (1966). [D]efining the relevant market is indispensable to a monopolization claim under § 2 of the Sherman Act. Thurman Indus., Inc. v. Pay `N Pak Stores, Inc., 875 F.2d 1369, 1373 (9th Cir.1989). The relevant market has two dimensions, the relevant product market which includes a determination of the lack or presence of readily available substitutes and the relevant geographic market when the competition is geographically confined. Brown Shoe Co. v. United States, 370 U.S. 294, 324, 82 S.Ct. 1502, 8 L.Ed.2d 510 (1962); Kodak v. Image Technical Servs., 504 U.S. 451, 481-82, 112 S.Ct. 2072, 119 L.Ed.2d 265 (1992) (stating that the relevant market is determined by choices available to purchasers and is composed of products with reasonable interchangeability) (citing United States v. E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., 351 U.S. 377, 404, 76 S.Ct. 994, 100 L.Ed. 1264 (1956)); see also Intergraph Corp. v. Intel Corp., 195 F.3d 1346, 1353, 52 USPQ2d 1641, 1645 (Fed.Cir. 1999). California's state antitrust statute, the Cartwright Act, is patterned after the Sherman Act, and Sherman Act decisions are applicable to cases under the Cartwright Act. See Cal. Bus. & Prof.Code § 16700, et seq.; G.H.I.I. v. MTS, Inc., 147 Cal.App.3d 256, 195 Cal.Rptr. 211, 216 (1983). 31 Golan's antitrust claims cannot survive summary judgment because Golan failed to satisfy the summary judgment requirement of proffering sufficient evidentiary support to establish, prima facie, the possession of monopoly power in the relevant market. 32 Indeed, Golan's antitrust claims fail for at least two reasons. First, Golan failed to provide sufficient evidence to establish a relevant market. Golan offered only conclusory allegations that the relevant market is the high end after-market motorcycle fuel valve market for Harley Davidson motorcycles without further supporting evidence. Pingel presented uncontroverted evidence that its fuel valves compete against lower priced valves that are interchangeable substitutes, and that it lacked monopoly power and could not control prices. Golan presented no expert testimony regarding monopolization or the relevant market, nor did Golan present evidence sufficient to raise a question of material fact regarding the existence or nonexistence of interchangeable substitutes. Although Golan presented declarations of dealers in the motorcycle fuel valve industry stating that Golan and Pingel's valves are the only products in the high end high performance aftermarket motorcycle fuel valve market for Harley Davidson motorcycles, these conclusory statements are insufficient to exclude lower priced interchangeable substitutes from the relevant market. High end, and high performance are irrelevant if lower end, and lower performance valves are interchangeable substitutes. Pingel's testimony regarding interchangeability is therefore uncontroverted. 33 Second, even assuming the relevant market is as narrow as Golan suggests, Golan failed to prove that Pingel had acquired monopoly power in this relevant market. Golan offered no evidence of market share, barriers to entry, or any other commonly accepted evidence showing monopoly power. From the record before us, the evidence at best shows there were two competitors in this limited market. Without proof of monopoly power Golan's antitrust claims must fail. 34 We therefore affirm the dismissal of Golan's antitrust claims because Golan failed to satisfy the summary judgment requirement of proffering sufficient evidentiary support to establish, prima facie, the possession of monopoly power in the relevant market. 35