Opinion ID: 1921
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Allegation of Specific Intent

Text: The District Court dismissed the conspiracy to monopolize claims asserted in Counts Two and Three on the alternative ground that the Plaintiffs failed to adequately allege specific intent on the part of the Dealers. [9] Specific intent is an essential element of a conspiracy to monopolize claim. Bonjorno v. Kaiser Aluminum & Chem. Corp., 752 F.2d 802, 807 (3d Cir.1984). It means an intent which goes beyond the mere intent to do the act. Aspen Skiing Co. v. Aspen Highlands Skiing Corp., 472 U.S. 585, 602, 105 S.Ct. 2847, 86 L.Ed.2d 467 (1985) (discussing specific intent in the attempt to monopolize context) (quoting United States v. Aluminum Co. of Am., 148 F.2d 416, 432 (2d Cir.1945)). In other words, the defendant must have intended to achieve an illegal monopoly. Joseph P. Bauer & William H. Page, II Kintner's Federal Antitrust Law § 14.40, at 423 (2002) (footnote omitted); see also Times-Picayune Pub. Co. v. United States, 345 U.S. 594, 626, 73 S.Ct. 872, 97 L.Ed. 1277 (1953); Am. Tobacco Co., 328 U.S. at 809, 66 S.Ct. 1125. Specific intent in the antitrust context may be inferred from a defendant's unlawful conduct. See, e.g., Advo, Inc. v. Phila. Newspapers, Inc., 51 F.3d 1191, 1199 (3d Cir.1995). Here, the Plaintiffs point us to their allegations that the defendants have acted with the specific intent to unlawfully maintain a monopoly[,] (App.452); that the intended effect of th[e] exclusive dealing arrangement ... has been the elimination of any and all competition[,] (id. at 440); and that the defendants knew that this exclusive dealing arrangement was and is an illegal restraint of trade designed to maintain Dentsply's monopoly[,] (id.). In essence, the Plaintiffs allege that Dentsply's pricing policies were unlawful, that the Dealers knew as much, and that they signed on to those policies knowing full well they were unlawful. But that allegation, in its many iterations, is conclusory. There are no facts behind it, so it does not plausibly suggest knowledge of unlawfulness on the Dealers' part. We could feasibly infer the Dealers' specific intent to further Dentsply's monopolistic ambitions if the Plaintiffs had stated enough factual matter to suggest some coordination among the Dealers, something to suggest that they knew that Dentsply was spearheading an effort to squash its competitors by pressing the Dealers into its service and keeping prices artificially inflated. [10] We have already determined, however, that the Plaintiffs' allegations that the Dealers conspired with Dentsply are deficient, so we cannot infer the Dealers' specific intent from their mere participation in the conspiracy, as the Plaintiffs urge. In fact, the only actual conduct the Plaintiffs have alleged on the part of the Dealers is that each one of them, acting on its own, signed a bilateral dealing agreement with Dentsply. The only plausible inference from that conduct is that each Dealer sought to acquire, retain and/or increase its own business. Significantly, the antitrust laws do not prohibit such conduct. See, e.g., U.S. Steel Corp. v. Fortner Enters., Inc., 429 U.S. 610, 612 n. 1, 97 S.Ct. 861, 51 L.Ed.2d 80 (1977). At bottom, the Plaintiffs' allegations of specific intent rest not on facts but on conclusory statements strung together with antitrust jargon. It is an axiom of antitrust law, however, that merely saying so does not make it so for pleading-sufficiency purposes. See Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955 ([A] plaintiff's obligation to provide the grounds of his entitlement to relief requires more than labels and conclusions, and a formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action will not do[.] (internal quotation marks, alteration and citation omitted)). Because we find that the Plaintiffs failed to sufficiently allege specific intent, we agree with the District Court's dismissal of Counts Two and Three on this ground.