Conoco Inc. v. Inman Oil Co.

774 F.2d 895 (1985)

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Conoco Inc. v. Inman Oil Co.

United States Court of Appeals for the Eight Circuit
774 F.2d 895 (1985)

Facts

Conoco Inc. (plaintiff) sold petroleum products in two separate ways—directly to commercial users, and indirectly through distributors and jobbers. Inman Oil Co. (Inman) (defendant) was one of Conoco’s jobbers. Over the course of several years, Conoco solicited commercial users for direct sales of its petroleum products that had, up to that point, purchased Conoco products through Inman as a jobber for Conoco. Conoco set a price for its products for direct sale to these potential customers at a level lower than that set by Inman as a jobber to the same customers. This led to Inman losing many of its customers to Conoco. It was undisputed that Conoco’s lower prices resulted from it not being a jobber in the first place. Inman, by contrast, in order to make a profit in its capacity as a jobber for Conoco, had to sell its products at a price higher than what it had paid to purchase them from Conoco. Conoco brought suit against Inman to recover unpaid money, and Inman counterclaimed, alleging that Conoco had engaged in unlawful price discrimination under the Robinson-Patman Act. Conoco argued it could not be liable for price discrimination under the Robinson-Patman Act, because there had been no injury to competition. The trial court agreed and granted summary judgment in favor of Conoco. Inman appealed.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Nichol, J.)

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