Davidson v. Microsoft Corp.

• Decision Date: 28 February 2002
• Docket Number: No. 60,60
• Citation: 792 A.2d 336,143 Md. App. 43
• Parties: Bobby DAVIDSON, et al. v. MICROSOFT CORPORATION.
• Court: Court of Special Appeals of Maryland

792 A.2d 336

143 Md. App. 43

Bobby DAVIDSON, et al. v. MICROSOFT CORPORATION.

No. 60, Sept. Term, 2001.

Court of Special Appeals of Maryland.

February 28, 2002.

Jeffrey R. DeCaro (DeCaro, Doran, Siciliano, Gallagher & DeBlasis, LLP, on the brief) Lanham, for appellants.

Michael F. Brockmeyer (Piper, Marbury, Rudnick & Wolfe, LLP, Baltimore, and David B. Tulchin, and Sullivan & Cromwell of New York, NY, on the brief) for appellee.

Argued before JAMES R. EYLER, SONNER, and MARVIN H. SMITH (Ret., specially assigned), JJ. JAMES R. EYLER, Judge.

In March, 2000, appellants, Bobby Davidson and Tri County Industries, Inc., brought suit in the Circuit Court for Prince George's County on behalf of a class of Maryland consumers claiming appellee, Microsoft Corporation, overcharged them for its Windows 98 computer operating system. Appellants claimed that appellee's practices were a monopolization, in violation of the Maryland Antitrust Act ("MATA"), Md.Code, Comm. Law, §§ 11-201—11-213 (2000, 2001 Supp.), and a deceptive trade practice, in violation of the Maryland Consumer Protection Act ("MCPA"), Md.Code, Comm. Law §§ 13-101—13-501 (2000, 2001 Supp.). Appellee moved to dismiss appellants' suit, contending that the complaint failed to state a claim under either statute. A hearing was held on the motion on January 26, 2001.

In its motion, appellee argued that appellants did not directly purchase software from appellee and that federal antitrust case law precludes suits by such "indirect purchasers."¹ Appellee also asserted that the MCPA does not include MATA violations in its list of unfair or deceptive trade practices. The circuit court agreed and, on February 14, 2001, granted appellee's motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim upon which relief could be granted. Appellants filed this appeal from that decision, alleging that: (1) the circuit court erred in deciding that private indirect purchasers had not sustained an antitrust injury within the meaning of the Maryland Antitrust Act; and (2) the circuit court erred in holding that appellants did not state a viable claim under the MCPA. We shall affirm the judgment of the circuit court.

Factual Background

Appellants' lawsuit is one of many lawsuits filed against appellee in state and federal courts that rely on Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson's decision in United States v. Microsoft Corp., 84 F.Supp.2d 9 (D.D.C.1999)(findings of fact), 87 F.Supp.2d 30 (D.D.C.2000)(legal ruling), aff'd in part, rev'd in part, and remanded in part, 253 F.3d 34 (D.C.Cir.2001), finding that appellee had engaged in business practices in violation of federal antitrust laws. Appellants' complaint alleges that appellee has "monopoly power ... in the market for operating systems for Intel-based personal computers." The complaint also asserts that appellee has maintained that monopoly power by "anticompetitive and unreasonably exclusionary conduct." The complaint states that appellee allegedly exercised its monopoly power by licensing its Windows 98 operating system to computer manufacturers, called Original Equipment Manufacturers ("OEMs"), and distributors "at a monopoly price in excess of what Microsoft would have been able to charge in a competitive market." The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation consolidated all of the cases pending in federal court before then-Chief Judge J. Frederick Motz of the United States District Court for the District of Maryland. Judge Motz dismissed all antitrust claims brought by indirect purchasers under the Illinois Brick rule. See In re Microsoft Corp. Antitrust Litig., 127 F.Supp.2d 702 (D.Md.2001)

. The circuit court relied heavily on that decision and, similarly, dismissed appellants' state law claims. The circuit court also dismissed the appellants' unfair or deceptive trade practices claim.

Discussion

I. Standard of Review

In reviewing a motion to dismiss, we must determine whether the trial court was legally correct. See Fioretti v. Maryland State Bd. of Dental Examiners, 351 Md. 66, 71, 716 A.2d 258 (1998)

. We have held that "[t]he grant of a motion to dismiss is only proper when the complaint does not disclose, on its face, a legally sufficient cause of action." Campbell v. Cushwa, 133 Md.App. 519, 534, 758 A.2d 616 (2000)(citing Hrehorovich v. Harbor Hosp. Ctr., Inc., 93 Md.App. 772, 785, 614 A.2d 1021 (1992)). On review, this court must construe all facts and allegations in a light most favorable to the non-moving party, in this case, the appellants. See Shoemaker v. Smith, 353 Md. 143, 167, 725 A.2d 549 (1999). We will "assume the truth of all relevant and material facts that are well pleaded and all inferences which can be reasonably drawn from those pleadings." Sharrow v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 306 Md. 754, 768, 511 A.2d 492 (1986).

II. Maryland Antitrust Act

Appellants contend that the Supreme Court's decision in Illinois Brick does not control the case sub judice or, in the alternative, that one of its recognized exceptions applies. With respect to the first point, appellants' primary argument is that they are direct licensees of Microsoft and that the product (Windows 98) is not sold, but rather only licensed. Before using Windows 98 for the first time, appellants had to enter into an end-user license agreement ("EULA") with Microsoft. Because of the resulting direct relationship between appellants and appellee, according to appellants, the rationale of Illinois Brick does not apply. Appellants also rely on the Supreme Court's decision in California v. ARC America Corp., 490 U.S. 93, 109 S.Ct. 1661, 104 L.Ed.2d 86 (1989), for the proposition that federal antitrust law does not preempt state antitrust law, meaning that a state's own laws may be interpreted to permit individual purchasers to recover antitrust damages.

In Illinois Brick Co. v. Illinois, 431 U.S. 720, 97 S.Ct. 2061, 52 L.Ed.2d 707 (1977), the State of Illinois brought suit against concrete block manufacturers, alleging price fixing in violation of section 4 of the Clayton Act, 15 U.S.C. § 15. The Supreme Court held that the state was an indirect purchaser as it did not buy concrete blocks directly from the manufacturers. See Illinois Brick, 431 U.S. at 726,

97 S.Ct. 2061. Declining to overrule the precedent established in Hanover Shoe, Inc. v. United Shoe Mach. Corp., 392 U.S. 481, 88 S.Ct. 2224, 20 L.Ed.2d 1231 (1968),² the Court explained, [This] Court's concern in Hanover Shoe to avoid weighing down treble-damages action with the "massive evidence and complicated theories" involved in attempting to establish a pass-on defense against a direct purchaser applies a fortiori to the attempt to trace the effect of the overcharge through each step in the distribution chain from the direct purchaser to the ultimate consumer.

Illinois Brick, 431 U.S. at 741, 97 S.Ct. 2061. The Court concluded that indirect purchasers are not injured in their businesses within the meaning of section 4 of the Clayton Act and, as a result, federal antitrust laws bar claims by indirect purchasers. See id. at 745-47, 97 S.Ct. 2061.

Before considering whether the Illinois Brick rule bars appellants' suit, we must resolve the question of whether Illinois Brick applies to causes of action brought under MATA. Maryland Code, Com. Law II, section 11-209, governs the determination of who has standing for redress of MATA violations and who has sustained an antitrust injury. At issue in this appeal is section 11-209(b), which provides:

(1) The United States, the State, or any political subdivision organized under the authority of the State is a person having standing to bring an action under this subsection.

(2)(i) A person whose business or property has been injured or threatened with injury by violation of § 11-204 may maintain an action for damages or for an injunction or both against any person who has committed the violation.

(ii) The United States, the State, or any political subdivision organized under the authority of this State may maintain an action under subparagraph (i) of this paragraph for damages or for an injunction or both regardless of whether it dealt directly or indirectly with the person who has committed the violation.

The General Assembly has defined "person" as "an individual, corporation, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, association, two or more persons having a joint or common interest, or any other legal or commercial entity." Md.Code, Com. Law II, § 11-201(f)(2000, 2001 Supp.).

While some cases discuss Illinois Brick in terms of standing, the Supreme Court expressly stated that it was not deciding the issue of standing. Instead, the Court decided the case on the basis of which party sustained antitrust injury as a result of the illegal overcharge. See Illinois Brick, 431 U.S. at 728 n. 7,

97 S.Ct. 2061 ("the question of which persons have been injured by an illegal overcharge for purposes of § 4 [of the Clayton Act] is analytically distinct from the question of which persons have sustained injuries too remote to give them standing to sue for damages under § 4"). The Court determined that the direct purchaser is the one injured for the purposes of federal antitrust law. See id. at 729, 97 S.Ct. 2061. Although CL section 11-201 (f) broadly defines the word "person," it does not purport to address the Illinois Brick issue, namely whether antitrust injury has occurred or been threatened as required by section 11-209(b).

Commercial Law II, section 11-202(a)(1), states that the purpose of MATA is "to complement the body of federal law governing restraints of trade, unfair competition, and unfair, deceptive, and fraudulent acts or practices." Section 11-202(a)(2) provides that, in construing MATA, "courts are to be guided by the interpretation given by federal courts to the various federal statutes dealing with the same or similar matters." Md.Code, Comm. Law, § 11-202(a)(1),(2)(2000, 2001 Supp.). Judge Young, when analyzing Maryland's...