American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Inc. v. Hydrolevel Corporation
United States Supreme Court
456 U.S. 556, 102 S.Ct. 1935, 72 L.Ed.2d 330 (1982)
- Written by Sean Carroll, JD
Facts
American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Inc. (ASME) (defendant) was a nonprofit organization that set engineering standards for the industry. The standards were voluntary but were widely accepted and used. Hydrolevel Corporation (plaintiff) developed a new safety device for water boilers. John W. James was vice president of a competitor of Hydrolevel. James was also the vice chairman of an ASME subcommittee that set standards for products like Hydrolevel’s. James requested a determination from ASME on the Hydrolevel device’s compliance with the applicable ASME code. T. R. Hardin, the chair of the ASME subcommittee, gave an unofficial response on ASME letterhead that the Hydrolevel product was unsafe. The response became public, and the success of Hydrolevel’s product was harmed. Hydrolevel sued ASME under the Clayton Act. The jury returned a verdict for Hydrolevel. The court of appeals affirmed, finding that ASME could be held liable for antitrust violations under an apparent-authority theory. The United States Supreme Court granted certiorari.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Blackmun, J.)
Dissent (Powell, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 810,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.
