Alerts

Supreme Court Eliminates Presumption of Patents' Market Power in Antitrust Cases

March 2, 2006

In its March 1, 2006 decision in Illinois Tool Works v. Independent Ink, the Supreme Court unanimously rejected the rule that all patents are presumed to confer market power in a tying arrangement involving products covered by the patent and, instead, required a factual showing of market power in the tying product to support a Sherman Act antitrust violation. Tying arrangements, which expressly or implicitly condition the sale of one product or service on the purchase of another product or service, are often the target of antitrust challenges, particularly where the tying product or service is patented.