Weyerhaeuser Co. v. Ross-Simmons Hardwood Lumber Co.

Weyerhaeuser Company v. Ross-Simmons Hardwood Lumber Company
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued November 28, 2006 Decided February 20, 2007
Full case name	Weyerhaeuser Company, Petitioner v. Ross-Simmons Hardwood Lumber Company, Inc.
Citations	549 U.S. 312 (more) 127 S. Ct. 1069; 166 L. Ed. 2d 911; 2007 U.S. LEXIS 1333; 75 U.S.L.W. 4091; 2007-1 Trade Cas. (CCH) ¶ 75,601; 20 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. S 77
Court membership
Chief Justice John Roberts Associate Justices John P. Stevens · Antonin Scalia Anthony Kennedy · David Souter Clarence Thomas · Ruth Bader Ginsburg Stephen Breyer · Samuel Alito
Case opinion
Majority	Thomas, joined by unanimous

Weyerhaeuser Company v. Ross-Simmons Hardwood Lumber Company, 549 U.S. 312 (2007), was a United States Supreme Court case related to antitrust regulations.

Background[]

Both parties operated sawmills; Ross-Simmons was driven out of business by what it complained was Weyerhaeuser's attempted monopsonization of the market. The theory was "predatory buying": a purchaser buys so much of a given raw material that it drives up the price and thereby excludes less pecunious rivals who depend on the same raw material.

Opinion of the Court[]

The Supreme Court rejected the theory on a rule of reason analysis, noting that there are any number of legitimate business strategies that involve buying large quantities of raw materials. A plaintiff alleging predatory buying must therefore prove—and Ross-Simmons had not—that the defendant caused the price to rise, and that the defendant is likely to recoup the costs incurred in such a scheme.

The Court's decision symmetrized its case law, with Weyerhaeuser and Brooke Group Ltd. v. Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp. applying identical standards to predatory buying and predatory selling claims respectively.

External links[]

• Text of Weyerhaeuser Co. v. Ross-Simmons Hardwood Lumber Co., 549 U.S. 312 (2007) is available from: Cornell  Justia 

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