Concord Boat Corp. v. Brunswick Corp.

Brunswick (defendant), the market leader in stern-boat engines, offered volume-based rebates to customers; competitor Concord Boat (plaintiff) sued for antitrust violations, presenting expert testimony from Dr. Hall using an economic model concluding that Brunswick's over-50%-market-share position necessarily indicated anticompetitive pricing. The model failed to account for the fact that Brunswick already held a 75% market share before the challenged discount program even began, and ignored that much of Brunswick's dominant position stemmed from unrelated lawful events, including a competitor's product recall and merger difficulties among other rivals. The district court admitted the testimony over Brunswick's objection, the jury found for Concord based partly on Dr. Hall's damages estimates, and Brunswick appealed.