The Third Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a conspiracy case claiming that 10 defendants, including Japanese firm Ajinomoto Co. Inc., which distributed aspartame in the United States; Monsanto, which owned rights to aspartame product NutraSweet; and Delaware-based NutraSweet Co. conspired to increase the price of the sweetener. The court dismissed the case as outside the statute of limitations, because the […]
Category Archives: US Federal Courts
Supreme Court to Hear Telecom Entrance Fee Case
January 28, 2011 – 4:00 pm
The Sixth Circuit, disagreeing with the Federal Communications Commission, has held that incumbent telephone carriers need not provide “entrance facilities” to competitors at regulated cost-based rates. Instead, they may charge market rates or refuse to provide the facilities at all. The court held that the 1996 Telecommunications Act clearly distinguishes between interconnection facilities that much […]
Judge Dismisses Polymer Antitrust Case
January 28, 2011 – 1:10 pm
District of Massachusetts’s Judge Michael A. Posner granted Specialized Technology Resources Inc.’s (STR) motion to dismiss a suit brought by JPS Elastomerics Corp., accusing STR of attempting to drive JPS out of the specialized polymer market by bringing a sham claim in state court. JPS brought the suit in federal court after having lost a […]
Refusal to Deal Claim Based on Denial of Lab Accreditation to Move Forward
January 28, 2011 – 10:02 am
Middle District of Tennessee Judge William J. Haynes Jr rejected a motion to dismiss K&S Associates Inc. claim that members of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine conspired to deny its lab the accreditation that it needed to operate. For 27 years, K&S has operated one of three U.S. dosimetry calibration laboratories with AAPM […]
Novir Lawsuits Sent to Jury
January 26, 2011 – 5:01 pm
Northern District of California’s Judge Claudia Wilken denied plaintiff’s motions for summary judgment sending several lawsuits against Abbott Laboratories to the jury. Plaintiffs allege that Abbott raised the price of its HIV drug Norvir in order to protect a separate drug, Kaletra, from competition. Judge Wilken said that the case could go forward on theories […]
Class Certified in iPhone Exclusive Dealing & Monopolization Case
January 26, 2011 – 2:46 pm
Update January 2010: Northern District of California Judge James Ware dismissed with leave to amend a complaint filed by an indirect purchaser alleging that Apple charged anticompetitive fees for music that could play on non-Apple devices and had issued updates that reduced the value of i-pods because they limited the ability of the Apple device […]
Patent Exclusion Suit Dismissed on Standing Grounds
January 22, 2011 – 7:06 pm
Southern District of New York Judge Denise Cote dismissed antitrust claims filed by Siti against a nonprofit patent-holding company and telecommunications giants Verizon Communications Inc., Cisco Systems Inc. and Ericsson Inc. The plaintiff alleged that the defendants set up the holding company to o prevent small companies from selling or licensing their patents at fair market value. […]
Montana State Antitrust Dispute Resolved on Summary Judgment
January 22, 2011 – 6:26 pm
District of Montana Judge Richard F. Cebull dismissed state antitrust claims filed by Montana Camo brought under the state’s Unfair Trade Practices Act, granting Cabela’s motion for summary judgment. The plaintiff supplied camouflage clothing and licensed clothing designs to Cabela’s until disagreements arose over pricing. Montana Camo claims that Cabela’s violated state antitrust law by (1) […]
Summary Judgment Granted on Sherman Act Claim in Universal Distribution Case
January 18, 2011 – 9:33 pm
Eastern District of New York Judge Roslynn Mauskopf granted summary judgment on the Sherman Act claim brought by a pair of video distributors against Universal Music & Video Distribution Corp., Ingram Entertainment Inc., and VPD IV Inc. Judge Mauskopf adopted Magistrate Judge Joan Azrack’s report and recommendation, which outlined how plaintiffs had failed to expose […]
Federal Jury Levies $11.3 Million Verdict Against CareCore
January 17, 2011 – 10:39 am
An Eastern District of New York jury found that CareCore National and owners of CareCore radiology practice engaged in anticompetitive practices. In 2008, the plaintiff, a group of New York Stand-Up MRI PC radiology practices, sued alleging that CareCore and other radiology practices conspired to prevent the plaintiff from becoming participating network providers of MRI […]