Continental T v. Inc. v. GTE Sylvania Inc.

MEMORANDUM OF DECISION

This private antitrust action is again before this court after appeal from less than the whole of the judgment and ultimate reversal. (See, GTE Sylvania Incorporated v. Continental T.V., Inc., 537 F.2d 980 (1976); Continental T.V., Inc. v. GTE Sylvania Incorporated, 433 U.S. 36 , 97 S.Ct. 2549 , 53 L.Ed.2d 568 (1977).) Plaintiff Continental T.V., Inc. (Continental) now moves this court pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 16 for an order determining the issues to be retried and allocating the parties’ respective burdens of proof as to each. Concurrently, defendant GTE Sylvania Incorporated (Sylvania) moves for summary judgment, contending that there remains no material triable issue of fact in dispute and that, in light of the Supreme Court opinion, defendant is entitled to summary judgment as a matter of law. For reasons which will be explained, defendant’s motion is well taken, and therefore summary judgment in its favor must be granted.

Although it is not necessary to again recite in detail the facts underlying this dispute, that having been done previously by both appellate courts ( 537 F.2d, at 982-986 ; 97 S.Ct., at 2551-2553 ), a brief summary of the relevant…