The court next deferred until trial its decision on the defendants' motions to dismiss the primary causes of action, but granted a defense motion for summary judgment on an additional cause of action. 312 F. Supp. 404 (SDNY 1970). Trial to the court took place in May and June 1970. An extensive record was developed.
The alleged antitrust violation must yield an injury which is "direct" and not "incidental." See SCM, supra; Flood v. Kuhn, 312 F. Supp. 404 (S.D.N.Y. 1970). The specifics of the "target area" test have been refined and amplified as a result of the opinion in Calderone, supra.
It is equally clear however where there are no material facts in dispute or where plaintiffs cannot recover on their claims as a matter of law, dismissal or summary judgment is appropriate. Daily Press v. United Press International, 412 F.2d 126 (6th Cir. 1969), Jones v. Borden Company, 430 F.2d 568 (5th Cir. 1970), Beckman v. Walter Kidde Co., 316 F. Supp. 1321 (E.D.N.Y. 1970), Flood v. Kuhn, 312 F. Supp. 404 (S.D.N.Y. 1970). At the hearing held in San Francisco on March 23, 1971, counsel for the affected farm plaintiffs argued strenuously that if they could establish that the alleged conspiracy had an impact, however remote or uncertain, on the price of finished animal feed products, their clients had a right to maintain their actions under the federal antitrust laws subject only to the requirement that they later establish the amount of their damages with the requisite degree of certainty.
On April 23, 1970 we deferred action, pursuant to Rule 12(d), F.R.Civ.P., on defendants' motions to dismiss the first four causes of action, but granted summary judgment dismissing the unrelated fifth cause of action above-mentioned against the St. Louis Cardinals and New York Yankees. Flood v. Kuhn, 312 F. Supp. 404 (S.D.N.Y. 1970). The remaining four causes of action contesting the legality of baseball's reserve system were tried to this Court from May 19 to June 10, 1970.