In In re: MDL 2048 Cox Enterprises Inc. Set-Top Cable Television Box Antitrust Litigation, Western District of Oklahoma Judge Robin J. Cauthron denied a motion to dismiss a proposed class action by Oklahoma City customers against Cox Communications Inc. In this suit, originally filed as part of a nationwide multidistrict class action litigation, Cox customers […]
Author Archives: Steve Semeraro
DOJ Concerned About The Exploitation of Standard-essential Technology Patents Through Unfair Licensing Strategies
January 24, 2013 – 10:36 am
Fiona M. Scott-Morton, the Antitrust Division’s Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Economic Analysis claimed in a recent speech entitled “The Role of Standards in the Current Patent Wars” that companies controlling patents that are essential to an established technological standard can often charge anticompetitively high licensing rates despite their commitments to follow fair, reasonable and […]
Class Action Challenging Baseball and Hockey Television Deals to Move Forward
January 24, 2013 – 10:35 am
In Laumann et al. v. National Hockey League et al Southern District of New York Judge Shira A. Scheindlin allowed class actions to move forward against the National Hockey League, Major League Baseball, and television providers Comcast and DirecTV relating to their control of sports broadcasts. The class members are purchasers of baseball and hockey […]
China Sanctions LCD Makers For LCD Price-Fixing
January 23, 2013 – 12:05 pm
China announced that it was sanctioning LG Corp., Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., and four Taiwanese companies $56 million for fixing liquid crystal display panel prices. This sanction marks China’s entry into the global cartel enforcement scene, and shows that despite lingering questions about just how leniency process works in China, multinational companies can no longer […]
Court Approves the Settlement of “Post-It” Trademark Infringement Suit
January 23, 2013 – 11:28 am
In 3M v. Unemployed Philosophers Inc., Minnesota District Court entered a consent judgment that ends 3M Co.’s trademark and unfair competition suit against Unemployed Philosophers Inc. over Unemployed Philosophers’ use of 3M’s “Post-It,” “Post,” and “Its” trademarks in naming several of Unemployed Philosophers’ products. Under the terms of the consent judgment, which is part of a […]
Seventh Circuit Dismisses Sulfuric Acid Antitrust Class Action
January 23, 2013 – 11:03 am
In In re: Sulfuric Acid Antitrust Litigation, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit dismissed an antitrust class action filed by sulfuric acid purchasers, accusing U.S. and Canadian sulfuric acid mining companies of price-fixing by entering into deals where the U.S. companies agreed to distribute Canadian sulfuric acid and shut down or curtail […]
FCC Rule Requiring Cell Phone Providers to Sell Internet Access to Competitors on Commercially Reasonable Terms Upheld
January 23, 2013 – 9:02 am
In Cellco Partnership vs. Federal Communications Commission et al., a panel of the District of Columbia Circuit rejected Verizon’s challenge to an FCC rule that required mobile internet providers to negotiate roaming agreements with their rivals. The rule was intended to enable cell phone users to access the internet in areas not served by their […]
Respirator Manufacturer Violates Antitrust Laws by Enforcing Patents Obtained by Fraud
January 23, 2013 – 9:01 am
In Transweb LLC v. 3M Innovative Properties Co. et al., a District of New Jersey jury found that defendant 3M Innovative Properties attempted to enforce two patents that it had obtained by fraud and violated the antitrust laws. The plaintiff, a supplier of filtration materials and 3Ms only competitor for certain government certified respirators, had […]
Follow-on Class Action Against Michigan Blue Cross/Shield to Move Forward
January 23, 2013 – 9:00 am
In The Shane Group Inc. et al. v. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, Eastern District of Michigan Judge Denise Page Hood has ruled that a proposed class action may move forward. The putative class claims the health insurance company included anticompetitive most-favored-nation (MFN) provisions in its hospital contracts that required the hospitals to charge […]
Court Dismisses Petition Over 2010 NFL Secret Salary Caps
January 22, 2013 – 3:12 pm
In Reggie White et al. v. National Football League, Minnesota District Court Judge David S. Doty, dismissed a petition filed by the NFL Players’ Association, claiming that the NFL and team owners conspired to set secret salary caps during the uncapped 2010 season. The NFLPA filed its petition in May contending that the owners violated a […]