In Eaton Corp. v. ZF Meritor LLC et al., the U.S. Supreme Court denied certiorari, refusing to review a Third Circuit decision upholding the imposition of antitrust liability on a truck transmission manufacturer for encouraging its customers to deal with it exclusively by offering low prices. Most federal circuit courts that have considered whether loyalty […]
Author Archives: Steve Semeraro
Ninth Circuit Dismisses Robotic Insect Toy Antitrust Suit For Lack of Personal Jurisdiction
May 29, 2013 – 6:18 pm
In MGA Entertainment Inc. v. Innovation First Inc. et al., the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court ruling dismissing MGA Entertainment Inc.’s lawsuit accusing Innovation First Inc. (IFI) of engaging in an anti-competitive scheme by making false statements about the design for the Hexbug Nano, for lack of personal jurisdiction. In its suit, […]
EU Raids Energy Giants Due To Benchmark Rate Manipulation Concerns
May 29, 2013 – 5:43 pm
The European Commission (EC) raided several energy giants, including BP PLC, Statoil, Platts, McGraw Hill Financial – which publishes benchmark price assessments for the energy industry. EC carried out the raids due to concerns that the companies might have colluded on providing distorted prices to a price-reporting agency in order to manipulate the benchmark rates […]
Court Dismisses Airport Duty-Free Retailers’ Antitrust Suit
May 29, 2013 – 5:19 pm
In Duty Free Americas Inc. v. Estee Lauder Cos. Inc., Southern District of Florida Judge Robert N. Scola dismissed Duty Free Americas Inc. (DFA)’s suit accusing Estee Lauder Cos. Inc. (ELC) of attempting to force it out of the airport retail business and monopolize the beauty product market in duty-free stores. DFA, which operates duty-free stores in […]
FTC Judge Dismissed FTC’s Iron Pipe Fittings Price-Fixing Conspiracy Claim
May 29, 2013 – 4:39 pm
In In the Matter of McWane Inc, and Star Pipe Products Ltd., Federal Trade Commission Administrative Judge D. Michael Chappell dismissed a price-fixing conspiracy claim in FTC’s law suit against McWane Inc., holding that McWane did not conspire with two other competitors — Star Pipe Products Ltd. and Sigma Corp. — to fix prices on […]
Court Allows Investors To Amend Antitrust Injury Claims In Libor MDL
May 29, 2013 – 4:07 pm
In In re: Libor-Based Financial Instruments Antitrust Litigation, Southern District of New York Judge Naomi Riece Buchwald allowed three groups of plaintiffs to move to revive their allegations that Bank of America Corp., JPMorgan Chase & Co., and other top banks violated the Sherman Act and cost plaintiffs billions of dollars by rigging the London […]
Court Finds Waiver of Right to Jury Trial in Major Antitrust Damages Case
May 22, 2013 – 7:34 am
In State of Texas et al. v. Penguin Group USA Inc. et al., Southern District of New York Judge Denise Cote has ruled that Penguin Group USA Inc. waived its right to a jury trial on damages claims brought by a group of 30 states against Apple and several publishing companies for fixing e-book prices. […]
Kanas Overturns Judicially Created Per Se Rule for Resale Price Maintenance
May 21, 2013 – 5:30 pm
In a May 2012 decision, the Kansas Supreme Court had rejected the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Leegin v. PSKS that overturned the per se rule under the federal antitrust laws against minimum resale price maintenance in favor of the rule of reason. The Kansas high court, by contrast, held that, under the state’s own […]
Court Enjoins Labeling Designed to Make Shelf Stable Products Appear Fresh
May 21, 2013 – 5:29 pm
In Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc. v. Del Monte Foods Co., Southern District of New York Judge Sidney H. Stein enjoined Del Monte Corp. from mislabeling products in a fashion designed to suggest that they contain fresh fruit when in fact the products do not. The injunction comes approximately one year after a jury awarded […]
Special Master Issues Recommendation To Allow Retailers’ CRT Claims To Proceed
May 14, 2013 – 3:06 pm
In In re: Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) Antitrust Litigation, Special Master Charles A. Legge said U.S. District Judge Samuel L. Conti should allow the so-called direct action plaintiffs, which include retail chains such as Best Buy Co. Inc. and Target Corp., to proceed with Sherman Act and several other claims against some of the Cathode Ray […]