In Re Tableware Antitrust Litigation

ORDER

Plaintiffs in these consolidated cases allege that May Department Stores Co (“May”) and Federated Department Stores, Inc (“Federated”), which operate department stores across the United States, and Lenox, Inc (“Lenox”) and Waterford Wedgwood, USA (“Waterford”), both of which produce fine tableware sold in the United States, conspired with one another to boycott Bed, Bath and Beyond, a competitor of May and Federated. Plaintiffs claim to have purchased fine tableware from May and Federated during the period of the alleged boycott and were thus injured because the boycott impaired competition in that product market. Plaintiffs bring suit under § 1 of the Sherman Act, alleging that defendants’ conduct is condemned per se.

On November 17, 2006, Federated (joined by May) and Waterford moved for summary judgment asserting a variety of grounds. Doc # 116; Doc # 128. For reasons discussed below, the court GRANTS Waterford’s motion for summary judgment and GRANTS IN PART and DENIES IN PART Federated’s and May’s motion for summary judgment.

I

In early 2000, both Waterford and Le-nox considered expanding the distribution channels for their high-end tableware lines to include Bed,…