Standard Oil Company of California et al. v. United States (337 U.S. 293)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided June 13, 1949 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 337 U.S. 293 · 69 S. Ct. 1051
- Decided
- June 13, 1949
- Term
- October Term 1948
- Vote
- 6–3
- Majority author
- Justice Frankfurter
- Issue area
- Economic Activity
- Disposition
- Affirmed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party lost
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
Opinion excerpt
Mr. Justice Frankfurter delivered the opinion of the Court. This is an appeal to review a decree enjoining the Standard Oil Company of California and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Standard Stations, Inc., from enforcing or entering into exclusive supply contracts with any independent dealer in petroleum products and automobile accessories. 78 F. Supp. 850. The use of such contracts was successfully assailed by the United States as violative of § 1 of the Sherman Act and § 3 of the Clayton Act. The Standard Oil Company of California, a Delaware corporation, owns petroleum-producing resources and refining plants in California and sells petroleum products in what has been termed in these proceedings the “Western area” — Arizona, California, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah and Washington. It sells through its own service stations, to the operators of independent service stations, and to industrial users. It is the largest seller of gasoline in the area. In 1946 its combined sales amounted to 23% of the total taxable gallonage sold there in that year: sales by company-owned service stations constituted '6.8% of the total, sales under exclusive dealing contracts with independent service - stations, 6.7% of the total; the remainder were sales to industrial users. Retail' service-station sales by Standard’s six leading competitors absorbed 42.5% of the total taxable gallonage'; the…
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