William Inglis & Sons Baking Co. v. ITT Continental Baking Co.

Inglis and four other baking companies (plaintiffs) sued ITT Continental Baking (defendant) under the Sherman Act, claiming ITT priced its private-label bread below cost, and they moved for a preliminary injunction. ITT responded that it set its prices in a good-faith effort to meet competition, a statutory defense. The district court denied the injunction, finding the plaintiffs unlikely to succeed on the merits because the evidence suggested the bread market naturally tended toward monopoly. The plaintiffs appealed.

Whether a preliminary injunction may be granted when the movant shows only a fair chance of success on the merits, provided the threatened harm is sufficiently serious.