Santa Clara Valley Distributing Co., Inc. v. Pabst Brewing Company

556 F.2d 942 1977-2 Trade Cases 61,537 SANTA CLARA VALLEY DISTRIBUTING CO., INC., et al., Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. PABST BREWING COMPANY, Defendant-Appellee. No. 75-1513. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. June 29, 1977. J. Albert Hutchinson (argued), San Francisco, Cal., for plaintiffs-appellants. James R. Madison (argued), Orrick, Herrington, Rowley & Sutcliffe, San Francisco, Cal., for defendant-appellee. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. Before DUNIWAY and CHOY, Circuit Judges, and BONSAL, * District Judge. PER CURIAM: 1 Plaintiffs appeal the trial court's grant of defendant's motion for a directed verdict. Fed.R.Civ.P. 50(a). We affirm. 2 Plaintiffs Santa Clara Valley Distributing Co., Inc. and Bert G. Gianelli are wholesale distributors for various brands of beer in California. Defendant Pabst Brewing Company (Pabst) is a manufacturer and seller of beer. Plaintiffs have written distributorship agreements with Pabst to wholesale its products. 3 Of the plethora of antitrust claims raised in plaintiffs' original and amended complaints, only two theories were reserved for trial: 4 (1) Did defendant combine or…