How about a few coupons?

The Ninth Circuit today upheld a $3.5 million antitrust verdict and judgment against one of the two dominant publishers/arrangers of Sunday newspaper coupon inserts. 

The fight involved an upstart company, Theme Promotions, that specialized in coupons linking product A (Equal sweetener, for example) and product B (Maxwell House Coffee, for instance).  The old-line defendant, News America Marketing, competed directly with Valassis Communications for coupon insert customers; and Theme preferred to do business with Valassis.  News America responded to the threat by putting into its contracts with coupon-issuers a provision that prohibited them from inserting coupons through Theme (and, hence, Valassis). 

The jury found that the new prohibition unreasonably restrained trade and awarded Theme actual ($1 million) and punitive ($2.5 million) damages.  The Ninth Circuit affirmed, holding that the evidence raised a fact issue as to the relevant market and the unreasonableness of the exclusive-dealing requirement in News’s contracts with potential Theme customers.  Theme Promotions Inc. v. News Am. Mktg. FSI, No. 06-16230 (9th Cir. Aug. 20, 2008).

Our feed wonders what happened to the Blawgletter redesign plan.