DATAGATE, INC., Plaintiff-Appellant, v. HEWLETT-PACKARD CO., Defendant-Appellee

We consider whether a tying arrangement foreclosing a single customer can ever affect a “not insubstantial” volume of commerce and so be illegal per se under the Sherman Act, § 1 ( 15 U.S.C. § 1 ). Datagate, Inc. appeals the district court’s order granting summary judgment in favor of Hewlett-Packard Company (“HP”) on Datagate’s claim that HP imposed illegal tying arrangements on its customers. The district court held that Datagate had presented evidence sufficient to establish a material issue of fact as to only a single tying arrangement, affecting one customer, and that this was insufficient as a matter of law to affect a “not insubstantial” amount of commerce under Jefferson Parish Hospital District No. 2 v. Hyde, 466 U.S. 2, 16 , 104 S.Ct. 1551, 1560 , 80 L.Ed.2d 2 (1984). We have jurisdiction over Datagate’s timely appeal, 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we reverse.

I

Datagate is an independent service organization (“ISO”) which engages in the mainte nance and repair of HP computer equipment (“hardware service”). HP competes with Datagate and other ISOs in the market for the provision of hardware service. HP also provides support services for the proprietary operating systems and…