In Fond Du Lac Bumper Exchange Inc. v. Jui Li Enterprise Co. Ltd. et al., and Arkansas Transit et al. v. Jui Li Enterprise Co. Ltd. et al., Eastern District of Wisconsin Judge Lynn Adelman denied defendants’ motion to dismiss a consolidated proposed class action alleging price fixing by Taiwanese aftermarket (AM) sheet metal auto […]
Author Archives: Steve Semeraro
Monopolization Case Against Live Nation Requires Further Discovery
September 17, 2012 – 9:40 am
In It’s My Party Inc. et al. v. Live Nation Inc., District of Maryland Judge J. Frederick Motz denied the defendant’s motion for summary judgment in a case in which a concert promoter is alleging that Live Nation monopolized the concert market and entered anticompetitively tying its promotional services for artists to the use of […]
Class Alleges Price Fixing on Hotel Accommodations by Travel Reservation Websites
September 17, 2012 – 9:39 am
A class of plaintiffs have filed an antitrust action in the Northern District of California captioned Turik et al. v. Expedia Inc. et al., and alleging that online travel reservation firms and hotels have conspired to fix prices for hotel accommodations. The complaint alleges that the so-called “price-match guarantee” is really a means to fix […]
FTC Proposes Closer Scrutiny of Drug Patent Licensing
September 11, 2012 – 10:36 am
The Federal Trade Commission has proposed a rule requiring drug companies to report transactions in which a drug company licenses another to exclusively market and sell a drug while retaining the right to manufacture it. Historically, the sale of a patent was a reportable transaction under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Pre-merger Notification Act, which requires the reporting […]
Breach of SSO Commitment Enforceable By Competitors, but Not as Antitrust Violation
September 11, 2012 – 10:35 am
In Apple Inc. v. Motorola Mobility Inc., Western District of Wisconsin Judge Barbara B. Crabb granted summary judgment against Apple on antitrust claims, but allowed its contract claims to stand, in a case alleging that Motorola Mobility refused to license its standard-essential patents on fair, reasonable and nondiscriminatory terms. Although Motorola’s commitments to standard-setting organizations […]
Farmers May Challenge Filed Rate for Nonfat Dry Milk
September 9, 2012 – 10:53 am
In Carlin et al. v. DairyAmerica Inc. et al., , the Ninth Circuit reversed the lower court and held that the filed-rate doctrine did not bar dairy farmers from challenging a buyers’ coalition that allegedly skewed prices by providing lowball rates to a milk pricing overseer. The decision reinstated a series of cases that in […]
Computer Seller Monopolization Case Dismissed
September 9, 2012 – 10:52 am
In QSGI Inc. v. IBM Global Financing et al., Southern District of Florida Judge Kenneth L. Ryskamp dismissed computer reseller QSGI Inc.’s claim that IBM’s monopolistic conduct bankrupted it. The court held that the fatal flaw in QSGI complaint was the lack of injury to competition, as opposed to the company itself. As a result, […]
Court Dismissed Antitrust Suit Accusing Wireless Carriers of Rigging 3GPP Standards
September 7, 2012 – 12:36 pm
In Corr Wireless Communications, LLC et al. v. AT&T Inc. et al., Northern District of Mississippi Judge Sharion Aycock dismissed allegations that AT&T Inc., Motorola Mobility Inc., and Qualcomm Inc. conspired to push smaller wireless carriers, like Cellular South Inc., out of the market. The suit claimed that AT&T and the others rigged the 3rd […]
$550 Million Label Deal Proceeds Despite DOJ’s Antitrust Concerns
September 7, 2012 – 11:52 am
The day after the U.S. Department of Justice announced that 3M Co. scrapped its $550 million purchase of rival Avery Dennison Corp.’s sticky note business over antitrust concerns, the companies vowed to clear regulatory obstacles and finalize the deal. After the DOJ threatened to sue to block the deal on the grounds that the transaction would give 3M a […]
Second Circuit Upholds Coated Paper Price Fixing Verdict
September 6, 2012 – 4:12 pm
In In re: Publication Paper Antitrust Litigation, the Second Circuit held that a reasonable jury could find that FStora Enso OYJ North American affiliate conspired to fix the price of coated paper used in magazines and other printed material. The court thus overturned Judge Stefan R. Underhill grant of summary judgment in favor of the […]