United States v. Continental Can Co.

United States v. Continental Can Co., 378 U.S. 441 (1964), was a U.S. Supreme Court case which addressed antitrust issues. One issue it addressed was how should a market segment be defined for purposes of reviewing a merger of companies which manufacture different but related products.

United States v. Continental Can Co.
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued April 28, 1964 Decided June 22, 1964
Full case name	United States v. Continental Can Co., et al.
Citations	378 U.S. 441 (more) 84 S. Ct. 1738; 12 L. Ed. 2d 953; 1964 U.S. LEXIS 2224; 1964 Trade Cas. (CCH) ¶ 71,146
Case history
Prior	Motion to dismiss granted, 217 F. Supp. 761 (S.D.N.Y. 1963)
Holding
Section 7 of the Clayton Act, which prohibits a corporation from acquiring another company when it results in a substantial reduction in competition, applies to competition between different industries for the same end user market. Southern District of New York reversed and remanded.
Court membership
Chief Justice Earl Warren Associate Justices Hugo Black · William O. Douglas Tom C. Clark · John M. Harlan II William J. Brennan Jr. · Potter Stewart Byron White · Arthur Goldberg
Case opinions
Majority	White, joined by Warren, Black, Douglas, Clark, Brennan, Goldberg
Concurrence	Goldberg
Dissent	Harlan, joined by Stewart
Laws applied
15 U.S.C. § 18 (Clayton Act § 7)

Facts

In 1956, Continental Can Company, the second largest producer of metal containers in the U.S., acquired the Hazel-Atlas Glass Company, the third largest producer of glass containers.

The government sought Continental Can's divestiture of the assets of Hazel-Atlas, arguing that the merger was a violation of Section 7 of the Clayton Antitrust Act. The government claimed ten product markets existed, including the can industry, the glass container industry, and various lines of commerce defined by the end use of the containers.

Judgment

The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York found three product markets: metal containers, glass containers, and beer containers. The district court dismissed the case, holding that the government had failed to prove reasonable probability of lessening competition in the markets it had identified.

See also

• US antitrust law
• List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 378

External links

• Works related to United States v. Continental Can Co. at Wikisource
• Text of United States v. Continental Can Co., 378 U.S. 441 (1964) is available from: Findlaw Justia Library of Congress Oyez (oral argument audio)