By Memorandum Opinion entered by The Honorable Richard G. Andrews in Insight Equity d/b/a Vision-Ease Lens Worldwide v. Transitions Optical, Inc., Civil Action No. 10-635-RGA (D.Del. May 9, 2017), the Court granted in part and denied in part Plaintiff’s motion to exclude the expert testimony of Defendant’s expert which defined the relevant market for purposes of the antitrust claims.

Defendant’s expert defined the relevant market in the case to include both photochromic and clear lenses and used two econometric tests – cross-price elasticity of demand and co-price movement – to support her market definition. Id. at * 9. Plaintiff’s motion did not challenge the methodological soundness of cross-price elasticity and co-price movement; rather, it challenged the appropriateness of those tests under the facts and circumstances of the case. Id. at *12. In other words, Plaintiff’s motion challenged the “fit” of the expert’s use of cross-price elasticity of demand and co-price movement given the facts and circumstances of this case. Id.

Ultimately, with the exception of not allowing Defendant’s expert to rely on the co-price movement that she attributed to common components of clear and photochromic lenses, the Court rejected Plaintiff’s challenge and permitted Defendant’s expert to testify on co-price movement and cross-price elasticity of demand in giving her expert opinion on the relevant market for purposes of the antitrust claims. Id. at *14-16.

A copy of the Memorandum Opinion is attached.

The general takeaway is that an expert’s testimony must comply with the three requirements set forth in Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharma., Inc., 509 U.S. 579, 589 (1993): (1) qualification; (2) reliability, and (3) fit. The Court has a gatekeeping role in assessing whether the proffered testimony complies with the Daubert requirements. However, Courts tend to interpret the qualification, reliability and fit requirements of Daubert liberally when evaluating whether to exclude proffered expert testimony.

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