District of Nevada Judge Robert C. Jones reversed an earlier ruling between Bally Technologies and International Gaming Technology (IGT). This new ruling effectively ends the antitrust portion of the lawsuit. The counter-claimant, Bally, alleged that the suit was part of an effort to monopolize the gaming market for certain types of machines. Bally argued that […]
Category Archives: US Federal Courts
New Evidence of Price-Fixing Agreement Reopens Oil Rig Helicopter Case
January 17, 2011 – 10:37 am
District of Delaware Judge Jerome D. Davis has reopened a putative class action against some of the largest providers of offshore helicopter flights to oil rigs located in the Gulf of Mexico. Plaintiff, Superior Offshore Inc., filed an amended complaint that included new evidence of a price-fixing agreement from a confidential witness. Plaintiffs allege PHI […]
DOJ Indicts Ex-Florida West Vice-President and Others for Price-Fixing in Air Transportation Industry
January 17, 2011 – 10:35 am
The Department of Justice, Antitrust Division, indicted Ex-Florida West Vice President Rodrigo Hernan Hidalgo, Luis Agusto Afanador, and Jaime Rueda Sr. in the Southern District of Flordia for conspiracy to restrain trade under the Sherman Act. The conspiracy operated in early 2002, allegedly fixing the prices of peak season fuel and security surcharges for cargo […]
SRAM Class Action to Proceed
January 17, 2011 – 12:21 am
Northern District of California Judge Claudia Wilken denied a motion to decertify a class of direct purchasers of SRAM chips. The judge also denied in part and granted in part defendants’ motion for summary judgment for indirect purchaser claims. Samsung argued in its motion for decertification that the direct purchasers lacked standing because the direct […]
Antitrust Suit Threatens Avis Budget-Dollar Thrifty Merger
January 17, 2011 – 12:18 am
Franchisees of the Dollar-Thrifty Motor Group filed an antitrust complaint filed in the Western District of Washington, alleging that the merger would violate the Clayton Act by substantially lessening competition in the car rental market. The plaintiff’s specifically claim that if Avis acquires Dollar-Thrifty then there would be an increase of market concentration in U.S. […]
Third Circuit Reverses Dismissal of Insurance Conspiracy Claim
January 17, 2011 – 12:17 am
The Third Circuit reversed the dismissal of a Section 1 claim brought by West Penn Allegheny Health Systems, Inc. against the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center (UPMC). West Penn alleged that UPMC used its power in the health care provider market to protect Highmark, an insurance carrier, from competition. In exchange, the plaintiffs allege that […]
Indirect Payers Fail to Vacate Summary Judgment Against Bank America and Others for Fee Fixing
January 17, 2011 – 12:16 am
Northern District of California Judge Charles Breyer denied plaintiff bank customers’ motion to vacate a judgment, upholding an earlier ruling granting summary judgment for defendants. Plaintiffs lacked standing, the court held, to sue Bank of America and others for conspiring to fix ATM charge fees. Judge Breyer explained that the indirect payers of these fees could […]
State Law Damages Claims Preempted in RR Fee Fixing Class Action
January 7, 2011 – 2:18 pm
Update December 2010: The U.S. Supreme Court denied certiorari on the preemption issue. Update January 2009: The court dismissed the indirect purchasers’ state law claims, holding that they were preempted by the Staggers Rail Act. Under Federal antitrust law, indirect purchasers may seek injunctive relief but not damages. Many state antitrust laws, by contrast, permit indirect […]
Programmable Controller Monopolization Case to Move Toward Discovery
December 18, 2010 – 10:26 am
District of Massachusetts Senior Judge Edward F. Harrington rejected a motion to dismiss Savant’s monopolization allegations against Crestron and pledging to reconsider the arguments after discovery in a motion for summary judgment. According to the plaintiff Savant, Crestron, the largest supplier of programmable controllers for residential and commercial automation in the U.S., supplies about 2,500 […]
Attack on MPEG Patent Pool Dismissed
December 14, 2010 – 1:39 pm
Update December 2010: The court again dismissed the complaint, holding that Nero’s amended complaint still failed to allege sufficient facts to back up its allegations. Nero asserted that it would appeal the decision. Central District of CA Judge Mariana Pfaelzer dismissed Nero AG’s monopolization case against the MPEG video compression technology patent for failing to […]