Consumer Protection Law Commons^™

Product Definition, Product Information, And Market Power: Kodak In Perspective, Mark R. Patterson

Faculty Scholarship

In Eastman Kodak Co. v. Image Technical Services, Inc., product information, market costs, market information the United States Supreme Court held that market power sufficient to impose an illegal tying arrangement can, at least in theory, derive from buyers' uncertainty regarding a product's costs and quality. Although commentators disagree on the implications of the Kodak decision, all seem to agree that the opinion's emphasis on product information costs is a departure from previously accepted economic analysis of antitrust law. In this Article, Mark R. Patterson argues that the Kodak decision is, in fact, economically reasonable, incorporating into antitrust law previously …