Pfizer has been sued in a putative class action in the Southern District of New York by a group of health and welfare benefit plans who claim that Pfizer filed sham patent applications and colluded with Ranbaxy Inc. to delay the introduction of generic competitors to its cholesterol treatment Lipitor. The complaint alleges that Pfizer […]
Category Archives: Indirect Purchaser Issues
Pfizer Faces Suit by Health Plans Regarding Its Efforts to Delay Generic Lipitor
March 2, 2012 – 3:52 pm
Power Purchaser Lacks Standing
June 1, 2011 – 3:32 pm
Update June 2011: The court denied the plaintiff’s motion to reconsider its decision. Southern District of NY Judge Shira Scheindlin ruled that Plaintiff, Charles Simon, lacked standing to sue electric power supplier KeySpan and Morgan Stanley for allegedly manipulating the price of power sold to Simon’s utility, Con Edison. KeySpan paid $12 million to settle […]
Florida Concrete Companies Denied Motion to Dismiss
May 9, 2011 – 4:03 pm
Southern District of Florida Judge Cecilia M. Altonaga denied a motion to dismiss indirect purchasers from a class action price-fixing suit against several Florida cement companies. The complaint alleged that cement companies conspired as early as February 2008 to keep prices high in Florida. The indirect purchasers survived the motion to dismiss because at least […]
SRAM Class Action to Proceed
January 17, 2011 – 12:21 am
Northern District of California Judge Claudia Wilken denied a motion to decertify a class of direct purchasers of SRAM chips. The judge also denied in part and granted in part defendants’ motion for summary judgment for indirect purchaser claims. Samsung argued in its motion for decertification that the direct purchasers lacked standing because the direct […]
Indirect Payers Fail to Vacate Summary Judgment Against Bank America and Others for Fee Fixing
January 17, 2011 – 12:16 am
Northern District of California Judge Charles Breyer denied plaintiff bank customers’ motion to vacate a judgment, upholding an earlier ruling granting summary judgment for defendants. Plaintiffs lacked standing, the court held, to sue Bank of America and others for conspiring to fix ATM charge fees. Judge Breyer explained that the indirect payers of these fees could […]
ATM Price Fixing Case Dismissed
October 14, 2010 – 12:00 pm
Northern District of California Judge Charles Breyer has granted summary judgment to several banks charged with fixing the interchange fees on ATM transactions. The court held that the plaintiffs, bank customers, were indirect payers of the interchange fees, which are imposed directly on the banks. Although the customers likely bore the brunt of those fees […]
Tin Can Price Fixing Case Dismissed
October 12, 2010 – 1:50 pm
Judge Lawrence O’Neil, E.D. CA, dismissed a claim by a tomato canning company against US Steel and a Korean steel manufacturer alleging that the two conspired to monopolize the market for steel used to make tin cans and to monopolize the market. The defendant’s argued that the plaintiff’s price fixing claims for damages were barred […]
Class Action Alleges Price Fixing in the Sale of Optical Disc Drives
August 31, 2010 – 3:17 pm
Classes of direct and indirect purchasers have filed suit in the Northern District of California alleging that optical disc drive manufacturers have violated the antitrust laws. The complaint alleges that the defendants agreed to charge higher prices and rig electronic auctions to ensure that the certain price floors were maintained.