Competition record
Illinois Brick
Deep profile · 1 linked library matter
Illinois Brick made concrete block. In 1977 the Supreme Court held that indirect purchasers cannot sue for federal antitrust damages, and the library records the case as won by the defendant.
Overview
Illinois Brick Company manufactured concrete block, the masonry unit contractors lay into walls. It sold that block to masons and building suppliers. Those firms built the block into schools, offices, and other projects, and the building owner paid the contractor.
The State of Illinois sued for alleged overcharges on block used in public buildings. Illinois had not bought the block from Illinois Brick. It had paid contractors who had bought the block, or who stood further down the chain. The claim said the overcharge was passed through in the building price.
In 1977 the Supreme Court held that federal antitrust damages belong to the direct purchaser. An indirect purchaser cannot sue for the passed-on overcharge under federal law. The library status is won by the defendant, the block company. The rule is about who may sue, not about whether the block was in fact priced lawfully.
Competition footprint
Concrete block is a commodity sold to contractors, then buried in a building contract.
The direct purchaser is the firm that bought from the block maker.
Federal damages stop at that first sale, which is the holding the library records as a defense win.
Consumer & business angle
A state or a building owner who paid a contractor is the indirect purchaser the Court turned away.
The masonry contractor who bought the block is the customer federal law allows to sue.
What to watch
- Whether a federal damages claim is pleaded by the first buyer or by someone who paid that buyer.
- State laws that let indirect purchasers sue even though federal law does not, which is the main later debate around this case.
Markets
concrete block · masonry materials · concrete blocks · construction materials
Also known as: illinois brick co, illinois brick company