The records were given to the Charles Babbage Institute by R. George Glaser in 1980.
Access to the collection is unrestricted.
Most of the material in the collection was presented during trial and is a public record. However, some of the exhibits may be protected by the copyright law (Title 17, U.S. Code). Request for permission to publish material from the exhibits should be discussed with the archivist.
CalComp vs. IBM Records (CBI 2), Charles Babbage Institute, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.
The materials in this collection are arranged into the following groups:
California Computer Products, Inc. (CalComp) was a manufacturer of digital plotters, disk drives and other "plug compatible" computer equipment. It was incorporated in September 1958 and was involved primarily with the production plotters until about 1968, when it began selling disk drives manufactured by Century Data Systems of Anaheim, California. Total revenues for the company were over $6 million in 1966 and $118 million by 1977. By 1970, CalComp had acquired controlling interest in Century.
A portion of CalComp's business, particularly disk drives, was aimed at providing peripheral equipment for other manufacturers' systems at a substantial reduction to the manufacturers' price. On October 3, 1973, CalComp filed a claim against IBM for preventing CalComp from competing in the disk drive market. The company claimed that IBM had monopolized the market through premature introduction of new central processing units and disk drives, price cuts on existing disk products, leasing policies and other unfair marketing practices over a period of ten years (1963 - 1972). CalComp sought treble damages (as stipulated under section 4 of the Clayton Act) on an amount of $102 million. The claim was filed in U.S. District Court, Central District of California, as number 73-2331-RM.
CalComp evidently requested a jury trial because the company felt that a jury would be more sympathetic to CalComp's complaint and it would be more difficult for an appellate court to reverse a jury decision. After three years of discovery, the trial began on November 15, 1976 with Judge Ray McNichols presiding. Maxwell M. Bletcher of Bletcher, Collins and Hoecker was lead counsel for CalComp. David Boies of Cravath, Swaine and Moore represented IBM. Testimony was given in person and through deposition by both IBM and CalComp executives, as well as other computer manufacturers and expert witnesses.
After CalComp had presented its case, IBM moved for a directed verdict. On February 11, 1977, Judge McNichols ruled in favor of IBM's motion, citing that there was "not substantial evidence in the record to support a finding of unlawful monopolization in any of the relevant markets suggested."
CalComp filed an appeal with the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on February 16, 1977 in San Francisco (no. 77-1563). Judge Herbert Y. C. Choy denied the rehearing on November 16, 1979 and ruled that IBM's pricing, marketing and design changes did not constitute an attempt to monopolize the market.
CalComp was bought by Sanders Associates in 1980.
The collection contains photocopies of trial transcripts, trial exhibits, legal memoranda and other legal documents relating to California Computer Products, Inc. vs. International Business Machines Corporation. Although some items are missing from the collection, the records yield a complete picture of the lawsuit and issues involved. The records also include information about IBM's and CalComp's business practices, the practices of other computer companies of the late 1960s and early 1970s, and the "plug compatible" equipment business based on IBM computer systems.
The collection was donated in 1980 by R. George Glaser, a consultant for IBM. Further information about CalComp's and IBM's products may be found in the Near-print collection at the Charles Babbage Institute. Two volumes from the trail transcript were missing from the Glaser donation; those volumes were duplicated from records at the National Archives.
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the University of Minnesota Libraries. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.
The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.
Includes 58 photocopied volumes of verbatim transcripts. Each volume lists individuals who represented the Plaintiffs and Defendant, the witnesses (who appeared in person or by deposition), and a list of exhibits offered. An index of witnesses can be found above. Among the witnesses were Robert E. McDonald (Sperry), Robert S. Oelman (NCR), William C. Norris (Control Data), Clarence W. Spangle (Memorex), Patrick J. McGovern (Honeywell), Thomas J. Watson, Jr. (IBM), Max Palevsky (SDS), and Lester L. Kilpatrick (President, CalComp). Volume 57 contains presentations in support and against IBM's motion for a directed verdict and the court's determination in favor of IBM. Volume 58 contains Judge McNichols' remarks to and dismissal of the jury.
Includes legal documents filed in the lawsuit and one document pertaining to a 1970 bankruptcy hearing. The set of legal documents appears to be complete except for the original and amended complaint filed by CalComp. Also included is a copy of the CalComp appeal brief and an amicus curiae brief from Transamerica Computer Company for the appeal.
Describes CalComp's complaint against IBM and explains the legal basis for support of its claim. Exhibit 2 in the Brief is a 173-page directory of IBM executives from 1963 through 1971. The directory is organized alphabetically and includes position titles and the dates that the positions were held.
Details the process that CalComp used to determine the amount of damages caused by IBM. It includes five exhibits, some of which contain photocopies of computer print-outs and are difficult to read.
The series of Trial Memoranda issued prior to the trial relates to IBM's attempt to issue a counterclaim of damage, prevent the trial from being heard before a jury and move for a summary judgement. The other remaining trial memoranda concern IBM's successful motion for a directed verdict.
Describes the CalComp appeal against the verdict in their case against IBM.
Transamerica Computer Corporation filed a motion together with
an
Verbatim transcript relating to antitrust litigation involving IBM, Memorex, and Transamerica. It occurred during the CalComp trial on December 10, 1976, and, at times, refers to the CalComp case.
Concerns a 1970 hearing on the sale of assets of Computer Applications, Inc. No connection between the bankruptcy hearing and the CalComp case was found.
Contains both Plaintiffs' (CalComp and Century Data) and Defendant's (IBM) exhibits. They include photocopies of correspondence, memos, internal and public reports, presentation outlines, product literature and other related items. Many exhibits are missing and the collection does not contain all of the exhibits referred to in the trial. A sample was used to determine the range of dates of the exhibits so there may be documents that date beyond 1963 through 1971. The exhibits are not limited to IBM or CalComp records, but include records from other computer manufacturers, such as memoranda from J. Presper Eckert, Jr. of Sperry Rand/Univac.
Included in the IBM exhibits are two sets of records represented by Defendant's exhibits 1311, 3340 and 3381. The first is the "Computer Installation Data File," a listing of all domestic computer installations from 1974 through 1975. The file, produced by International Data Corporation of Newtonville, Massachusetts, is arranged by state and subdivided by city. The collection only includes data for California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, and Idaho. Each entry gives the name and address of the site, installation date, price, computer, major applications, languages used, type of business and information about memory size and peripherals. The file is a photocopy of a print- out and some pages are difficult to read. The second set, "EDP Market Share Study," is a photocopied print-out of data about domestic data processing markets. It is arranged by market segment and subdivided by company and products. Thus the Control Data 3600 is found under the product market "General Purpose / Large General / Manufacturer." Similarly, Data General's Nova Mini is found under "Minicomputer / Very Small Specialized / Manufacturer." No master list of the market segments is provided. The list covers commercial computer products and services from 1953 through 1970. Each company entry includes data on annual total product revenues for each market segment, total product revenues as a percentage of its data processing revenues, and percent of market share. Each product entry includes the date the product was announced, first delivery date and annual revenue produced by the product. The source of the study cannot be determined from the exhibit. Some pages are extremely difficult to read and cannot be photocopied further.