S.D. NY Judge Paul Gardephe has dismissed antitrust claims alleging that Bayer had used patents on the drugs Yasmin and Yaz anticompetitively. The court dismissed on the ground that the plaintiff’s alleged relevant markets based on the active ingredients in the drugs were irrationally narrow.
Category Archives: Section 2 Standards
Processed Milk Conspiracy Case to Move Forward
August 17, 2010 – 3:21 pm
E.D. Tennessee Judge Ronnie Greer granted summary judgment in favor of the defendants, Dairy Marketing Services and Southern Marketing Agency on monopolization and raw milk conspiracy counts, but denied summary judgment with respect to processed milk conspiracy claims. The case filed by Food Lion and Fidel Breto, dba Family Foods, will now proceed on the remaining […]
Intel & FTC Settle Case
August 17, 2010 – 3:10 pm
Following up on a high profile EU action, in December 2009, the Federal Trade Commission sued Intel alleging violations of Section 5 of the FTC Act. The Commission and Intel agreed to settle the action in an agreement that will prevent Intel from restricting competition or limiting competitors sales of CPUs and GPUs by compeling computer makers to use Intel chips exclusively […]
Futures Exchange Predatory Pricing Claim Dismissed
August 12, 2010 – 2:13 pm
Northern District of Illinois Judge James B. Zagel dismissed U.S. Futures Exchange’s predatory pricing claim against the Chicago Board of Trade and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange on the ground the that plaintiff had failed to show that the reduced fees were below cost as required by the antitrust laws. The court held that the fees […]
EU General Court Upholds Fine for Blocking Generic Drug Market Entry
August 12, 2010 – 2:00 pm
The EU General Court upheld the EC’s 2005 decision to fine AstraZeneca for abusing the patent system to delay they market entry of generic competitors for its ulcer drug Losec. The court reduced the fine from 60 euro to 53 euro, finding that the evidence was insufficient to prove wrong-doing in Denmark and Norway.
Class Action Alleging a Conspiracy to Adopt Baggage Fees Moving Forward
August 9, 2010 – 1:43 pm
Update August 2010:The Northern District of Georgia court overseeing what is now multidistrict litigation dismissed the monopolization claims on the ground that the defendants’ conduct could not have monopolized the Atlanta market. The conspiracy to restrain trade claim is proceeding. In Avery et al. v. Delta Air Lines et al., airline passengers filed a […]
ECJ Upholds De Beers’ Commitments re: Rough Diamond Purchases
July 26, 2010 – 2:15 pm
On June 29, 2010, the ECJ overturned the General Court’s judgment and reinstated the EC’s decision to make De Beers’ commitments to end purchases of rough diamonds from Alrosa binding.
Merchant “Anti-steering” Suit Against AmEx to Move Forward
May 28, 2010 – 1:29 pm
Judge Nicholas Garaufis, E.D. N.Y., refused to dismiss suits filed by major drugstore chains challenging the so-called anti-steering rules imposed by American Express to limit merchant conduct that would dissuade customers from using AmEx cards. Although the court agreed that the entry into the merchant card acceptance agreements triggered the start of the statutory period and […]
Monpolization Case Against BP to Move Forward
May 28, 2010 – 11:20 am
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.
Ninth Circuit Holds that AT&T Did Not Monopolize Underground Concrete Vault Market
May 27, 2010 – 1:41 pm
The Ninth Circuit affirmed summary judgment for a group of AT&T affiliates holding that a contract with a supplier of underground concrete vaults used by developers to install wiring did not improperly monopolize the market because it did not result in supra-competitive prices and did not improperly harm the plaintiff’s market position.