In Cherdak v. Vock et al., Eastern District of Virginia Judge Liam O’Grady dismissed antitrust claims filed by an inventor against Apple, Nike, and PhatRat. The plaintiff alleged that a fitness monitoring system sold by Apple and Nike infringed his patents. Apple and Nike licensed patent rights from PhatRat, a company that, the plaintiff alleged, […]
Category Archives: US Federal Courts
FTC Pay-for-Delay Drug Patent Challenge Fails
May 1, 2012 – 4:53 pm
In FTC v. Watson Pharmaceuticals Inc. et al., the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal of the FTC’s complaint alleging that Solvay Pharmaceuticals Inc. and manufacturers of generics versions of Androgel violated the antitrust laws by settling patent claims through an arrangement in which the branded drug company paid the generics to keep […]
Optical Disc Drive Price Fixing Class Action to Move Forward
May 1, 2012 – 4:52 pm
In In re: Optical Disk Drive Products Antitrust Litigation, Northern District of California District Judge Richard Seeborg rejected motions to dismiss the class claim that the defendants conspired to rig bidding and fix prices on optical disc drives. The court had dismissed the initial complaint alleging a broad conspiracy among companies selling products containing disc […]
Antitrust Challenge to Flash Memory Maker Dismissed with Leave to Amend
May 1, 2012 – 4:49 pm
In PNY Technologies Inc. v. SanDisk Corp., Northern District of California Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers held that the plaintiff failed to properly allege anticompetitive effect, but permitted PNY to amend its complaint. The case involves allegations than SanDisk used the threat of patent litigation to force potential licensees to enter anticompetitive licensing agreements. The court […]
Follow-on Private Litigation Accusing Hi-Tech Firms of Agreeing Not to Compete for Engineering Talent to Move Forward
May 1, 2012 – 4:45 pm
Northern District of California Judge Lucy Koh refused to dismiss In re: High-Tech Employee Antitrust Litigation, a case in which the plaintiffs allege that agreements among hi-tech companies to not steal each other’s engineers. In 2010, the Antitrust Division entered a consent decree with Apple, Pixar, Google, Intel, Adobe Systems, Intuit, and Lucasfilms concerning a […]
Court Refuses to Certify Advertiser Class Action Against Facebook
May 1, 2012 – 4:43 pm
Northern District of California Judge Phyllis J. Hamilton refused to certify a proposed of online advertisers in In re: Facebook Inc. PPC Advertising Litigation. The court held that the proposed class representatives did not show that they were harmed by the alleged violations. The complaint alleged that Facebook charged advertisers for cost-per-click, or CPC, advertising, […]
E-book Publishing Antitrust Case Filed
May 1, 2012 – 4:41 pm
The United States Department of Justice, Antitrust Division, and the European Commission have launched major antitrust initiatives against the e-book publishing industry and Apple. Both enforcers are attacking the publishers’ decisions to switch from a traditional resale model in which book sellers paid wholesale prices and set their own resale prices to an agency model […]
Court Allows Price-Fixing Conspiracy Claims Against LCD Panel Makers To Move Forward
April 30, 2012 – 12:54 pm
In Jaco Electronics Inc. v. AU Optronics Corp. et al., Northern District of California Judge Susan Illston denied a motion to dismiss, filed by NEC Corp., and other LCD panel makers, allowing Jaco Electronics Inc.’s, antitrust lawsuit to move forward. Jaco’s suit is part of multidistrict litigation over a massive LCD price-fixing conspiracy, alleging that […]
Court Allows Attempted Monopolization Claim Against Cessna to Proceed
April 30, 2012 – 11:53 am
In WM Aviation LLC et al. v. Cessna Aircraft Co., Middle District of Florida Judge G. Kendall Sharp, dismissed a large portion of a suit against Cessna Aircraft Co. over a 2008 runway plane crash. WM Aviation LLC and Tricor International Corp. accused Cessna of performing faulty maintenance on the jet operated by WM Aviation […]
Antitrust Claims Against Trojan Condom Maker Dismissed
April 30, 2012 – 10:45 am
In Church & Dwight Co. Inc. v. Mayer Laboratories Inc., Northern District of California Judge Edward M. Chen granted Trojan condommakerChurch & Dwight Co. Inc.’s motion for summary judgment, tossing antitrust claims made against it by rival Mayer Laboratories Inc. Mayer claimed that C&D abused its dominant market position to squeeze out other competitors through […]