District of Massachusetts Senior Judge Edward F. Harrington rejected a motion to dismiss Savant’s monopolization allegations against Crestron and pledging to reconsider the arguments after discovery in a motion for summary judgment. According to the plaintiff Savant, Crestron, the largest supplier of programmable controllers for residential and commercial automation in the U.S., supplies about 2,500 of the 3,000 U.S. automation system dealers . Plaintiff alleges that access to dealers, who provide information to customers and arrange for technicians to install the systems, is critical, especially for smaller companies that cannot afford to maintain their own nationwide fleet of installers.
Savant alleges that Crestron has “unlawfully required dealers, as a condition of maintaining their relationship with Crestron and their access to Crestron’s products for resale, to agree not to offer, resell, install or distribute Savant products.” In addition, it has offered discounts to dealers who refuse to carry Savant products and penalized those who offer Savant systems. Crestron’s conduct, the complaint alleges, reduces innovation and competition. In addition to its conduct with respect to dealers, Savant also argues that Crestron has made false and misleading statements disparaging Savant personnel and products and falsely asserting that only Crestron has an exclusive relationship with Apple Inc., when Savant is also an authorized reseller of Apple products.
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