In MM Steel LP v. Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co. et al., Southern District of Texas Judge Kenneth M. Hoyt, denied a motion to dismiss suit filed by MM Steel LP, a steel distributor, accusing a group of steel distributors and producers of conspiring to boycott MM Steel to edge it our as a potential […]
Author Archives: Steve Semeraro
California Supreme Court Refused to Hear Pharmacies’ Price-Fixing Case
December 27, 2012 – 2:56 pm
In Clayworth v. Pfizer, the California Supreme Court denied a petition to rehear a consolidated antitrust suit, filed by a group of pharmacies, accusing Pfizer Inc., GlaxoSmithKline PLC and other drugmakers of conspiring to inflate drug prices in the U.S. and keeping lower-priced Canadian drugs off the market. The defendants originally won at the trial […]
EU Adviser Says A Parent Company Can Be Held Liable For Its Subsidiary’s Cartel Activity
December 26, 2012 – 3:14 pm
In European Commission v. Stichting Administratiekantoor Protielje and Cosselin Group NV, Advocate General Julianne Kokott, the chief legal adviser to theEurope’s highest appeals court, issued an opinion that a parent company can be held liable for the cartel activity of its subsidiaries regardless of whether the parent actually conducts business itself. This recommendation came in […]
Federal Circuit Rules That Direct Purchasers May Sue to Void Patent Obtained by Fraud
December 21, 2012 – 3:13 pm
In Ritz Camera & Image LLC v. SanDisk Corp., the Federal Circuit held that the purchasers of a patented produce may file a monopolization suit based on the claim that the defendant obtained the patent by defrauding the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. The decision allows a class action challenging a SanDisk Corp. flash memory […]
Vitamin C Price-fixing Multi-district Litigation to Move Forward
December 21, 2012 – 3:11 pm
In In re: Vitamin C Antitrust Litigation, Eastern District of New York Judge Brian M. Cogan refused to dismiss multidistrict litigation alleging that Chinese manufacturers fixed the price of vitamin C, holding that the sales fell within the import and domestic effects exceptions to the Foreign Trade Antitrust Improvements Act. As a result, that law […]
DOJ Closes Investigation of Monsanto’s Domestic Seed Business
December 21, 2012 – 3:10 pm
The Department of Justice has closed its two-year antitrust investigation of Monsanto’s planned activities with respect to Roundup Ready 1 modified soybeans after the 2014 expiration of its patent. The DOJ may have been concerned that Monsanto would demand that farmers destroy or return seed when existing licenses expire because the company now prevents farmers […]
U.S. Supreme Court to Decide Whether Credit Card Companies May Require Merchants to Waive Class Action Rights in Arbitration Agreements
December 21, 2012 – 3:09 pm
The U.S. Supreme Court has granted certiorari to decide “whether the Federal Arbitration Act [FAA] permits courts, invoking the ‘federal substantive law of arbitrability,’ to invalidate arbitration agreements on the ground that they do not permit class arbitration of a federal-law claim.” The case involves a credit card company’s adoption of an arbitration requirement compelling […]
U.S. Supreme Court to Decide the Standard for the Required Pre-certification Showing that Damages May Be Calculated on a Class-wide Basis
December 10, 2012 – 9:22 am
In Comcast Corp. et al. v. Caroline Behrend et al., the U.S. Supreme Court will decide the standard that plaintiffs must satisfy to meet the Court’s requirement that, prior to certifying a class, the district court must find that admissible evidence supports the view that damages can be calculated on a class-wide basis. The plaintiffs […]
Drug Industry Opposes FTC Proposal to Expand the Reportability of Patent Licensing Deals
December 9, 2012 – 11:44 am
The Federal Trade Commission is coming under fire by pharmaceutical groups for proposing to expand its review of exclusive pharmaceutical patent rights licenses. Under the proposed change, a drug patent holder would need to report a license to the FTC under the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Act if the patent owner transfers the exclusive marketing and sales […]
Settlement of Visa/MasterCard Merchant Fee Case Preliminarily Approved Over Class Member Opposition
December 9, 2012 – 11:42 am
In In re: Payment Card Interchange Fee and Merchant Discount Antitrust Litigation, Eastern District of New York Judge John Gleeson preliminarily approved a $7.25 billion settlement in multi-district litigation alleging that the credit card companies collusively set the fees that they charge merchants to accept cards. Judge John Gleeson explained that class action settlements must […]