United States v. Hartford-Empire Co.

65 F. Supp. 271, 69 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 373, 1946 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2744
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Ohio
DecidedApril 3, 1946
DocketCivil Action 4426
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 65 F. Supp. 271 (United States v. Hartford-Empire Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Ohio primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Hartford-Empire Co., 65 F. Supp. 271, 69 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 373, 1946 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2744 (N.D. Ohio 1946).

Opinion

KLOEB, District Judge.

In the opinion of this Court, filed in this case on August 25, 1942, we find, in 46 F. Supp. at page 553, the following:

“These documents indisputably make a case that sustains the Government’s contention that the defendants have violated and are now violating Sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act [15 U.S.C.A. §§ 1, 2] and, in the case of Hartford and Lynch, Section 3 of the Clayton Act [15 U.S.C.A. § 14], ‘by unlawfully conspiring, monopolizing, attempting to monopolize, and by unlawfully contracting, combining, and conspiring to restrain interstate and foreign trade and commerce, and more particularly by acquiring and maintaining monopolies of * * * (b) the manufacture and distribution of glass-making machinery, * * * > »

On page 617 of 46 F.Supp. the Court states:

“* * * there has been an illegal combination resulting in an unreasonable restraint of trade in the glass container industry through the control of machinery used in the manufacture of glass; * *

Appropriate Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law were filed on August 27, 1942.

Thereafter, the Supreme Court, in its opinion of January 8, 1945, 323 U.S. 386, 65 S.Ct. 373, 381, said the following:

“The district court found * * * that competition in the manufacture and sale or licensing of such machinery had been suppressed, * * *. The findings are full and adequate and are supported by evidence, much of it contemporary writings of corporate defendants or their officers and agents. * * * We affirm the District Court’s findings and conclusions that the corporate appellants combined in violation of the Sherman Act, * *

In the supplemental or clarification opinion rendered by the Supreme Court on April 2, 1945, 324 U.S. 570, 65 S.Ct. 815, 818, we find the following:

“Hartford should of course be compelled to lease machinery covered by its patents according to its past practice, on reasonable terms, and should be required to license the patents involved for manufacture and use or sale, also on reasonable terms. * * *”

Also:

“The Government suggests that the opinion should be clarified to permit independent machinery manufacturers to obtain licenses. The opinion is so modified, and the corporate defendants are required to license all applicants to make, use, or sell the patented machines at reasonable royalties. * * *"
“Hartford should also be required to license the patents for manufacture for use or sale, but with the limitation that similar licenses at uniform reasonable royalties must be available to all who desire them.”

On April 12, 1945, the Supremp Court issued its Mandate remanding the case to this Court for further proceedings in accordance with its opinions.

Thereafter, and in due course, suggestions of the parties as to judgment after Mandate were filed with this Court, and in Section 13 (C) thereof the Government took a position as follows on the question of reasonable royalties for the manufacture and sale of glass making machinery:

“The reasonable royalty for the privilege to make, have made, and sell feeders, forming machines, suction machines, lehrs, or *273 stackers shall not be determined upon the basis of royalties which the licensor might receive for the use of the machine over its normal life if such machine were leased by the licensor (although the Court may consider the foregoing among other factors), but where machines of a particular class sold by a licensee are also leased by the licensor at charges determined to be reasonable herein, such reasonable royalty shall be fixed at some figure which will permit continuous competition between the lessor in leasing such machines and an efficient independent manufacturer in selling them. Where machines of a particular class sold by a licensee are not leased by the licensor, such royalty shall be fixed at some figure calculated to permit the sale of such machines by an efficient, independent distributor thereof in a competitive market. Royalties so determined shall be subject to revision upon application to this Court by the licensor or any licensee from time to time upon a showing that existing rates are ineffective to permit such continuous competition. The defendants named in this paragraph are hereby perpetually enjoined from requiring any purchaser of any such machine from one licensed to sell it, to pay royalties to such defendant for such use and from receiving any such royalties.”

In a footnote to paragraph (C), the defendants state their position, as follows:

“The defendants contend (with the exception of Ball Brothers Company, which expresses no opinion) that this subparagraph should be deleted and the following substituted therefor: ‘The royalties charged pursuant to this paragraph 13 shall be reasonable under all the circumstances.’ ”

In due course plaintiff and the defendants filed their written arguments in support of their respective contentions, and these written arguments were supplemented with oral argument on October 22, 1945.

The defendant’s position, based upon its contention that the royalties charged pursuant to Paragraph 13 shall be reasonable under all the circumstances, is concisely set forth on page 6 of its written memorandum, which reads as follows:

“Machine Manufacturers: Under the Committee’s program the manufacture of machinery is available to all on equal terms.

“Hartford, as in the past, will obtain patented machines from outside machine shops and lease them to lessees. It will .charge its lessees, as an initial license fee, the cost of these machines plus the manufacturer’s profit

“Independent machinery manufacturers, under the Committee’s program, will manufacture patented machines without payment of royalty to Hartford. They will similarly charge their purchasers, as a sales price, the cost of these machines plus the manufacturer’s profit.

“Result: Hartford and the independent machinery manufacturers will compete on a plane of absolute equality — and the competitor that produces the best machine at the lowest cost will take the business.

“Container Manufacturers: Under the Committee’s program the manufacture of glass containers is available to all on equal terms.

“Lessees from Hartford, as in the past, will use patented machines and will pay current, periodic royalties to Hartford for their use of the Hartford patents utilized with those machines.

“Purchasers from independent machinery » manufacturers, under the Committee’s program, will use purchased patented machines and will similarly pay current, periodic royalties to Hartford for their use of the Hartford patents utilized with those machines.

“Result: Lessees and purchasers will compete on a plane of absolute equality— and the competitor that produces the best ware at the lowest cost will take the business.”

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65 F. Supp. 271, 69 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 373, 1946 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2744, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-hartford-empire-co-ohnd-1946.