 In 1932 U.S. Government prosecutors asserted as anti-competition tying IBM's practice of requiring customers who leased its tabulating equipment to purchase punched cards used on such equipment.IBM lost and in the resulting 1936 consent decree, IBM agreed to no longer require only IBM cards and agreed to assist alternative suppliers of cards in starting production facilities that would compete with IBM's; thereby create a separate market for the punched cards and in effect for subsequent computer supplies such as tapes and disk packs.On January 21, 1952 the U.S. Government filed a lawsuit which resulted in a consent decree entered as a final judgment on January 25, 1956.