Opinion ID: 763285
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Court's May 10, 1995 Opinion

Text: 43 On May 10, 1995, the district court entered an order dismissing three of Realty One's eight counterclaims. It reasoned as follows: First, Realty One did not have standing to pursue its claim that Re/Max franchisees illegally agreed not to recruit each other's agents ((2) above). In its claim, Realty One alleged no antitrust harm; in fact, it benefitted by the reduction in competition for remaining agents. Even if there were a harm to the market associated with this practice, it is primarily sales agents who would be harmed, and they would be the proper parties to bring suit, not Realty One. 44 Second, Realty One alleged no antitrust injury in its claim that Re/Max engaged in deceptive recruitment techniques ((3) above). The mere allegation that Re/Max bid more for Realty One's agents could not constitute an antitrust violation. 45 Third, Realty One did not state a valid claim in arguing under § 2 of the Sherman Act that the Re/Max franchises conspired to set commission splits with non-Re/Max brokerages ((1) above), because Realty One alleged no specific intent on the part of Re/Max to monopolize. Realty One's allegations, even if true, evidenced no more than Re/Max's intent to expand into northern Ohio at Realty One's expense. Additionally, Realty One failed to make sufficient allegations that Re/Max's alleged vertical commission-setting agreements between the franchisor and the franchisees violated § 1, and thus the district court did not consider Realty One's conclusory amended complaint in that regard. However, the court did find that Realty One stated a valid § 1 claim that the franchises had conspired horizontally to set the commissions they pay to non-Re/Max brokerages in cooperative transactions. 46 Fourth, the court dismissed Realty One's antitrust disparagement claim ((4) above), because [m]ere allegations of business disparagement are not the type of injuries to competition that the antitrust laws were designed to prevent. 47 Fifth, the court found that Realty One had stated a valid claim that the plaintiffs conspired to conduct sham litigation against Realty One in violation of § 1 of the Sherman Act ((6) above). Sixth, Realty One's state-law counterclaims contained allegations sufficient to survive a 12(b)(6) motion ((7) & (8) above). 48 Finally, regarding Re/Max's complaint, the district court discussed Re/Max International's, the franchisor's, standing to bring its antitrust claims. The court found that Re/Max International was indeed injured by the defendants' alleged anticompetitive conduct and was the proper party to assert the claim that the defendants were exercising monopoly power in the market for experienced real-estate agents. However, Re/Max International was not the proper party to prosecute the claim regarding the defendants' monopoly in the home-buying and selling market. Re/Max could not prosecute the brokerage-services claim because, as we shall discuss below, of the five factors enumerated by this court to be evaluated in determining antitrust standing, two weighed heavily against Re/Max International, one was neutral, and two weighed for the plaintiffs. On the other hand, the factors heavily favored standing on the competition-for-agents claim.