NJ Avaya Ruling Reminds Us That Kodak is Alive and Well

On March 27, 2014, a New Jersey federal jury found that Avaya Inc., a leading manufacturer of enterprise telephone systems, violated the federal antitrust laws by trying to eliminate competition from independent services providers (“ISPs”) for maintenance of its systems.[1] The verdict confirms that potential antitrust liability for conduct affecting the aftermarket for service and maintenance of a single brand of products — established in the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1992 Kodak decision[2] but long thought to be an outlier in United States antitrust jurisprudence — is alive and well.