Judge James Zagel, N.D. Illinois, permitted monopolization claims against BP for seeking to corner the market for propane to proceed. The court held that issues of fact prohibit summary judgment on BP’s standing and statute of limitation defenses.
Category Archives: Antitrust Standing
Third Circuit Upholds Dismissal of Claims Against Dentsply
May 27, 2010 – 2:02 pm
The Third Circuit affirmed the dismisal of two cases challenging Dentsply’s agreements with dealers with respect to the sale of competitive artificial teeth. The court first upheld the denial of the plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment on the ground that an earlier decision against Dentsply in a government case was not sufficient to establish injury […]
Carbon Fiber Price Fixing Suit Is Allowed To Proceed
March 14, 2010 – 1:44 pm
In Hexcel Corp. v. Ineos Polymers Inc., Central District of California Judge Mariana Pfaelzer denied carbon fiber manufacturer Ineo Polymers Inc.’s motion to dismiss a price-fixing suit brought by rival Hexcel Corp., rejecting Ineos’ claims that Hexcel lacked standing to bring the suit and that Hexcel’s claims were time-barred. The court held that although the […]
DVD Application Antitrust Suit Dismissed for Lack of Injury
January 14, 2010 – 10:01 am
In RealNetworks Inc. et al. v. DVD Copy Control Association Inc. et al., Northern District of California Judge Marilyn Hall Patel tossed RealNetworks Inc.’s claims that several movie studios ran afoul of U.S. antitrust law by conspiring to block the company’s DVD-copying application in favor of their own product. The judge found that RealNetworks lacked […]
Unity Of Purpose Saves Parent Company From A Verdict Of Conspiracy With Subsidiaries
December 2, 2009 – 10:18 am
In Princeton Insurance Agency Inc. et al. v. Erie Insurance Co. et al., West Virgina Supreme Court of Appeals overturned a $4.2 million jury verdict against Erie Indemnity Co., ruling that the decision by Erie and its subsidiaries to terminate a contract with Princeton Insurance Agency did not constitute restraint of trade under the Sherman […]
Hospitals May Maintain Exclusive Practice & Exclude Outside Doctors
October 6, 2009 – 12:53 pm
In Four Corners Nephrology Associates PC et al. v. Mercy Medical Center, Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed a lower court’s decision, ruling that Colorado’s Mercy Medical Center did not break federal or state antitrust laws when it gave a single provider exclusive rights to in-house nephrology services, because the hospital had no antitrust […]
DRAM Price Manipulation Case Survives Summary Judgment
April 12, 2009 – 5:56 pm
In Sun Microsystems Inc. v. Hynx Semiconductor Inc. et al., Northern District of California Judge Phyllis J. Hamilton denied defendants’ motion for summary judgment, allowing the case of price manipulation of dynamic random access memory to go forward on the plaintiff’s Sherman Act claims. In their summary judgment motion defendants argued that plaintiff did not show that Hynx’s […]
Qualcomm Patent Standard Challenge Dismissed on Standing Grounds
March 5, 2009 – 2:22 pm
In Meyer v. Qualcomm, the court dismissed the claim that Qualcomm acted anticompetitively in refusing to license patents essential to a standardized technology. The S.D. of California court ruled that the plaintiff lacked antitrust standing because the chip set it purchased included a broad package of technologies, not just the patented technology involved. Although the […]