In In re: Refrigerant Compressors Antitrust Litigation, Eastern District of Michigan Judge Sean F. Cox dismissed many of the indirect purchaser claims in multidistrict litigation alleging a price-fixing conspiracy in the market for refrigerant compressors. Indirect purchase claims against Panasonic and Embraco North America Inc., a Whirlpool subsidiary, were retained. After reports of a government […]
Category Archives: Cartel Activity
College Athlete Likeness in Video Game Case to Move Forward
May 30, 2012 – 4:24 pm
In re: NCAA Student-Athlete Name & Likeness Licensing Litigation, Northern District of California Judge Claudia Wilken denied Electronic Arts Inc. motion to dismiss multidistrict antitrust litigation alleging that it conspired to deny compensation to former college athletes for use of their likenesses in video games. Plaintiffs claim that the NCAA wrongly prohibits college players from […]
Class Challenges to South Carolina Real Estate Listing Services to Move Forward
May 30, 2012 – 4:22 pm
The Fourth Circuit has upheld the district court’s refusal to dismiss Robertson v. Sea Pines Real Estate. The case involves putative class actions alleging that South Carolina real estate listing services and brokerages conspired by enacting and enforcing rules that prohibited cost-saving innovative brokerage practices and thereby increased prices. In particular, the complaint attacks rules […]
Canada’s Highest Court Decides To Address Indirect Purchaser Class Certification Issue
May 30, 2012 – 8:57 am
In Pro-Sys Consultants Ltd. et al. v. Microsoft Corp. et al., Canada’s highest court granted defendants leave to appeal the decision from a Quebec appeals court that granted class certification to indirect purchasers of dynamic random access memory. This is the third case addressing this issue that is now pending before the Supreme Court of […]
Optical Disc Drive Price Fixing Class Action to Move Forward
May 1, 2012 – 4:52 pm
In In re: Optical Disk Drive Products Antitrust Litigation, Northern District of California District Judge Richard Seeborg rejected motions to dismiss the class claim that the defendants conspired to rig bidding and fix prices on optical disc drives. The court had dismissed the initial complaint alleging a broad conspiracy among companies selling products containing disc […]
Follow-on Private Litigation Accusing Hi-Tech Firms of Agreeing Not to Compete for Engineering Talent to Move Forward
May 1, 2012 – 4:45 pm
Northern District of California Judge Lucy Koh refused to dismiss In re: High-Tech Employee Antitrust Litigation, a case in which the plaintiffs allege that agreements among hi-tech companies to not steal each other’s engineers. In 2010, the Antitrust Division entered a consent decree with Apple, Pixar, Google, Intel, Adobe Systems, Intuit, and Lucasfilms concerning a […]
E-book Publishing Antitrust Case Filed
May 1, 2012 – 4:41 pm
The United States Department of Justice, Antitrust Division, and the European Commission have launched major antitrust initiatives against the e-book publishing industry and Apple. Both enforcers are attacking the publishers’ decisions to switch from a traditional resale model in which book sellers paid wholesale prices and set their own resale prices to an agency model […]
Court Allows Price-Fixing Conspiracy Claims Against LCD Panel Makers To Move Forward
April 30, 2012 – 12:54 pm
In Jaco Electronics Inc. v. AU Optronics Corp. et al., Northern District of California Judge Susan Illston denied a motion to dismiss, filed by NEC Corp., and other LCD panel makers, allowing Jaco Electronics Inc.’s, antitrust lawsuit to move forward. Jaco’s suit is part of multidistrict litigation over a massive LCD price-fixing conspiracy, alleging that […]
Per Se Antitrust Claim Dismissed In Nurses’ Wage-Fixing Suit
March 23, 2012 – 8:27 pm
In Cason-Merendo et al. v. Detroit Medical Center et al., Eastern District ofMichigan Judge Gerald E. Rosen, in a class action suit filed by nurses who claim they were underpaid by hundreds of millions of dollars, granted summary judgment on plaintiffs’ per se antitrust claim that the hospitals conspired to fix wages. In their suit, […]
Copper Tubing Cartel Action to Move Forward
March 19, 2012 – 3:16 pm
In Carrier Corporation et al. v. Outokumpu Oyj et al., the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated a suit filed by an air conditioner and refrigeration company, Carrier Corporation, accusing copper tubing manufacturer, Outokumpu Oyj, of engaging in a long-running conspiracy to strangle the U.S. market for “ACR” copper tubes. The Sixth Circuit held that […]