Northern District of California Judge James Ware has dismissed with prejudice a putative class action alleging that Apple Inc. violated the antitrust laws by updating its iTunes media player software to thwart programs that would have removed encryption from music files sold through the iTunes Music Store. The suit, filed on behalf of Itunes music […]
Category Archives: US Federal Courts
En Banc Ninth Circuit Holds that Grocers Agreement To Share Profits in the Event of a Strike Subject to Rule of Reason
Update July 2011: An en banc panel of the 9th Circuit reversed, holding that although the supermarket chains’ profit sharing agreement was subject to antitrust review, the panel erred in treating it as inherently anticompetitive. Because the purpose of the agreement was to support the chains in collective bargaining negotiations, and thus lower labor costs, […]
Tractor Price Discrimination Suit Fails
The Sixth Circuit has heldthat the plaintiff’s failure to specifically plead facts of price discrimination was fatal to New Albany Tractor Inc.’s complaint against Louisville Tractor Inc. and Metalcraft of Mayville Inc. over mowing equipment. The Court cited the U.S. Supreme Court’s Twombly and Iqbaldecisions for the proposition that a plaintiff could not use the discovery process to obtain the […]
Motions to Dismiss Denied in Prosthetics Gel Liner Patent Case
Southern District of Ohio Judge Edmund A. Sargus, Jr., denied motions to dismiss a complaint against prosthetics maker The Ohio Willow Wood Co. Inc. and inventor Bruce Kania, rejecting the defendants’ argument that the suit failed to state a claim under Section 1 of the Sherman Act because it alleges harm caused by patent enforcement. […]
Organic Farmers Seek to Invalidate Monsanto’s Genetically-Modified Seed Patents
The Public Patent Foundation has filed suit in federal court in the Southern District of New York seeking to invalidate, on antitrust and other grounds, more than twenty Monsanto Company patents involving genetically- modified seed. The suit was filed on behalf of numerous organic farmers, seed businesses, and agricultural groups that do not want to use genetically […]
Antitrust Counterclaim Vs. Nation’s Largest Milk Seller Survives
Southern District of Florida Judge Marcia G. Cooke denied a motion to dismiss a counterclaim by milk distributor McCowtree Brothers Dairy Inc. that exclusive supply agreements between milk processor Dean Foods and milk producers violate the Clayton Act. The agreements are alleged to have resulted in Dean’s monopoly of the south Florida milk market, higher […]
Sixth Circuit Reinstates Claims for Continuing Conspiracy in Restraint of Carpet Trade
The Sixth Circuit revived an antitrust suit brought by Tennessee carpet dealer Watson Carpet & Floor Covering Inc. alleging rival dealer Carpet Den Inc. and supplier Mohawk Industries Inc. have conspired for more than a decade to force Watson out of business. The appeals court reversed the lower court’s ruling that Watson Carpet had failed […]
Lawful Conduct Cannot Be Used to Prove Anticompetitive Intent
Central District of California Judge Cormac J. Carney has held that an antitrust plaintiff in a Section 2 case may not use evidence of lawful conduct to bolster claims that other allegedly predatory conduct constituted unlawful monopolization. Judge Carney certified the ruling for interlocutory appeal. The plaintiff, Arminak, a household products packaging company alleged that Calmar […]
DC Circuit Upholds FCC Rule on Channel Access
The DC Circuit rejected cable company arguments that the FCC had exceeded its statutory authority in closing the so-called terrestrial loophole that allowed cable providers to retain exclusive access to non-satellite channels, which often include local sports programing. AT&T intervening on the FCC’s behalf argued that foreclosing competitive TV providers from access to local sports […]