In Re Coordinated Pre-Trial Proceedings in Western Liquid Asphalt Cases. Copp Paving Company, Inc. v. Gulf Oil Company

Copp Paving and related antitrust plaintiffs appeal from the dismissal of their claims against certain major oil companies and related defendants for want of jurisdiction.

Plaintiffs process asphaltic concrete and sell and deliver paving materials to construction jobs in California. Except for some imported crude oil which may find its way into their end-product, plaintiffs concede that they process California-produced materials and deliver all of their product to California construction sites.

Defendants Gulf Oil, Union Oil of California, and Edgington Oil Company are producers of asphaltic oil; defendants Industrial Asphalt, Inc., and Sully-Miller Contracting Company are competitors of plaintiffs.

Plaintiffs alleged that defendants had violated §§ 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act by conspiracy in restraint of trade and monopolization, §§ 3 and 7 of the Clayton Act by tieing agreements and illegal acquisitions (of Sully-Miller by Union and Industrial Asphalt by Gulf), and § 2(a) of the Robinson-Patman Act by price discrimination.

The district court held, on these facts, that the essential element of interstate commerce was missing from the asserted claims based upon various…