Addamax v. Open Software Foundation

Citation
' Addamax Corp. v. Open Software Foundation, 888 F. Supp. 274 (D. Mass. 1995) (full-text).

Trial Court Proceedings
A court considered whether a joint venture registered under the National Cooperative Research Act of 1984]] violated Section 1 of the Sherman Act. Addamax alleged that the Open Software Foundation (OSF) joint venture “rigged its [software] procurement system to favor specific companies and technologies” and forced competitors to offer products at “below-market prices and under disadvantageous conditions.”

Consistent with the NCRA, the court applied the rule of reason in assessing defendants’ summary judgment motion. In concluding that plaintiff’s claims contained triable issues of fact, the court found, inter alia "evidence that [Hewlett-Packard] and Digital formed OSF at least in part to impair the progress of certain competitors.”