In Perez et al. v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company et al., Northern District of California Judge James Ware dismissed a putative class action against State Farm Mutual Insurance Company and four other insurers. In their suit, plaintiffs alleged that the insurers colluded to exclusively offer “junk” policies that shut competitors out of the […]
Category Archives: Class Certification
Credit Card Companies Agree to Settle Merchant Fee Class Action, But Large Class Members Object
August 6, 2012 – 2:58 pm
Update: The court has held that the plaintiffs must formally seek approval of the proposed settlement by October 19, 2012. In In re Payment Card Interchange Fee and Merchant Discount Antitrust Litigation, the defendants have agreed to a $7.25 billion settlement of multidistrict litigation in the Eastern District of New York. Plaintiff merchants filed the […]
Credit Card Companies Agree to Settle Merchant Fee Class Action
July 16, 2012 – 4:04 pm
In In re Payment Card Interchange Fee and Merchant Discount Antitrust Litigation, the defendants have agreed to a $7.25 billion settlement of multidistrict litigation being litigated in the Eastern District of New York. Plaintiff merchants filed the 2005 case alleging that the Visa and MasterCard associations and large banks conspired to increase the fees paid […]
Direct Purchaser Class Certified in Railroad Fuel Surcharge Case
July 2, 2012 – 4:43 pm
In In re: Rail Freight Fuel Surcharge Antitrust Litigation, multi-district litigation, District of Columbia Paul L. Friedman certified a class of direct purchasers who are alleging that several railroad companies fixed shipping prices through an arbitrary fuel surcharge. The class was defined as anyone who purchased “rate-unregulated rail freight transport services” directly from at least […]
US Supreme Court Grants Cert. to Resolve State Action and Class Action Disputes
July 2, 2012 – 4:40 pm
In the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC’s) prosecution of the Phoebe Putney Health System Inc. merger, the U.S. Supreme Court will clarify the degree of specificity that state lawmakers must use in adopting an anticompetitive state regulation in order to secure an exemption from the federal antitrust laws. The Eleventh Circuit upheld Phoebe Putney’s $195 million […]
Court Certifies Flonase Antitrust Class Action
June 21, 2012 – 1:39 pm
In IBEW-NECA Local 505 Health & Welfare Plan et al. v. SmithKline Beecham Corp., Eastern District of Pennsylvania Judge Anita Brody certified a class of indirect purchasers of Flonase in five states. In their suit, plaintiffs accuse GlaxoSmithKline PLC of improperly blocking rivals from bringing generic versions of the nasal spray to market by filing multiple “citizen […]
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 […]
Court Refuses to Certify Advertiser Class Action Against Facebook
May 1, 2012 – 4:43 pm
Northern District of California Judge Phyllis J. Hamilton refused to certify a proposed of online advertisers in In re: Facebook Inc. PPC Advertising Litigation. The court held that the proposed class representatives did not show that they were harmed by the alleged violations. The complaint alleged that Facebook charged advertisers for cost-per-click, or CPC, advertising, […]
Wellbutrin Class Certification Ruling Upheld
April 29, 2012 – 9:02 pm
In Wellbutrin XL Antitrust Litigation, Eastern District of Pennsylvania Judge Mary A. McLaughlin denied a motion for reconsideration, filed by defendants GlaxoSmithKline PLC and Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, challenging the court’s earlier class certification ruling. In their suit, a class of indirect purchasers of depression medication Wellbutrin XL, and its generic equivalent, accused GlaxoSmithKline and Valeant […]
Class Certification Denied In Pineapple Sham Patent Suit
March 20, 2012 – 3:50 pm
In Conroy v. Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc. et al., California First District Court of Appeal upheld the denial of class certification in a case filed by direct and indirect purchasers, accusing Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc. of securing a patent for a variety of pineapple that it knew to be unpatentable and subsequently using […]