1、Congressional Research Service The Library of CongressCRS Report for CongressReceived through the CRS WebOrder Code RS22421April 13, 2006 Antitrust Effect of Patent on Tying Product: Illinois Tool Works Inc. v. Independent Ink, Inc.name redactedLegislative AttorneyAmerican Law DivisionSummaryAntitru
2、st law generally disfavors tying arrangementsthose in which a vendorconditions the sale of a desired product on the purchase of another (possibly not-so-desired) product. Not only have tying arrangements been considered unlawful asviolations of Section 1 of the Sherman Act (15 U.S.C. 1), they were d
3、etermined to beper se (automatically) unlawful. It was assumed, until at least the late-1970s, first, thatsuch arrangements were only possible because the seller possessed sufficient marketpower in the tying product to allow him to create the tie; and second, that they servedno purpose other than th
4、e suppression of competition in the market for the tied(unwanted) product. Then, in U.S. Steel Corp. v. Fortner Enterprises, Inc. (429 U.S.610 (1977), Fortner II), the Supreme Court recognized that there might be a reason otherthan a sellers ability to “force” a buyer to accept the tie, i.e., that t
