Opinion ID: 402177
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Lease-Gasoline Tying Claim

Text: 6 To establish an illegal tying arrangement under either the Sherman Act or the Clayton Act, the plaintiff most prove, inter alia, the existence of a tying arrangement between two distinct products or services. Community Builders, Inc. v. City of Phoenix, 652 F.2d 823, 830 (9th Cir. 1981); Moore v. Jas. H. Matthews & Co., 550 F.2d at 1212. We conclude that Hamro failed to raise a genuine issue of material fact with respect to the existence of a tying arrangement between the lease and the purchase of gasoline from Shell. The uncontroverted facts in the case establish that neither the lease nor the dealer agreement imposed upon Hamro an obligation to purchase gasoline from Shell. Hamro would not have violated his lease if he had bought non-Shell gasoline and marketed it under his own name. Failure to use the Shell insignia and to sell Shell gasoline would have violated the dealer agreement, which required Hamro to operate the premises as a Shell service station and to maintain representative amounts of Shell's three grades of gasoline. But the alleged tying product was the lease, not the dealer agreement. The lease did not compel operation of the premises as a Shell service station nor did it obligate Hamro to enter into or to comply with the dealer agreement.