Update August 2010: The court granted summary judgment for the racetrack and broadcaster defendants on the ground that they could not question the no broadcast order. The case is still proceeding against the other defendants. District of Maryland Judge Richard Bennett denied the defendants motion to dismiss in a case filed by a racetrack and […]
Category Archives: US Federal Courts
Blood Reagent Price-Fixing MDL Moves Forward
August 27, 2010 – 4:03 pm
E.D. PA Judge Jan Dubois denied defendant Immucor Inc. & Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics Inc. motion to dismiss on the ground that the plaintiffs had failed to sufficiently allege an agreement. The judge cited the close timing of the defenants’ price increases for blood reagent; their cancellations of contracts with group purchasers; and […]
NCAA Standard for Lacrosse Stickhead Design Not Anticompetitive
August 27, 2010 – 3:54 pm
The Sixth Circuit has upheld the dismissal on the pleadings of lacrosse stick manufacturer Warrior Sports’s complaint alleging that the NCAA violated Section 1 of the Sherman Act by agreeing with Warrior’s competitors to adopt a new rule that prohibited the use of all of the stick models currently sold by Warrior. After meeting with […]
Insurance Conspiracy Case Partially Dismissed
August 19, 2010 – 2:20 pm
The Third Circuit dismissed a major portion of the Insurance Brokers’ Antitrust Litigationon the ground that the complaint fails to adequately allege an a horizontal agreement among insurers. Although the plaintiffs alleged agreements between particular insurers and brokers, the insurers had sufficient incentive to enter those vertical agreements even if the insurers had not agreed […]
California Travel & Tourism Board Dismissed From Rental Car Conspiracy Case
August 19, 2010 – 1:47 pm
The Ninth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of the California Tourism Board from a suit alleging anticompetitive agreements by rental car companies to set ancillary fees. Plaintiffs alleged that after a new law placed an assessment on rental car companies to help fund the tourism board, the state board conspired with the rental car companies to […]
Golf Voucher Case Dismissed on Interstate Commerce Grounds
August 19, 2010 – 1:14 pm
S.D. Miss. Judge Halil Ozeren dismissed a complaint by a hotel associate alleging that golf courses violated the antitrust laws by offering lower voucher prices to a golfers’ association than to the hotels. The court held that the complaint failed to adequately allege an effect on interstate commerce as required by the federal antitrust laws. The […]
Case Accusing Mastiff Breeders of Price Fixing Dismissed
August 19, 2010 – 1:06 pm
District of Ohio Judge George Smith dismissed an antitrust case against the American Mastiff Breeders Council by a former member. The plaintiff alleged that the council violated the antitrust laws by setting capping the price that could be charged for puppies and by excluding the plaintiff from the organization. The court held that the plaintiff […]
DOJ Attack on Milk Processing Plant Merger to Move Forward
August 18, 2010 – 1:18 pm
E.D. Wisconsin Judge J.P. Stadtmueller held that the Department of Justice’s complaint seeking to undo a consumated merger between milk processing plants adequately stated a claim despite less than precise allegations of the relevant geographic market. The court nevertheless expressed disappointment with the lack of specificity in the complaint.
Fraud on Patent Office Claim to Move Forward
August 18, 2010 – 1:06 pm
District of Delaware Judge Joel Pisano refused to dismiss antitrust counterclaims filed by Daewoo in a patent infringement action filed by LG. LG alleged that Daewoo and other washer manufacturers were infringing four LG owned patents. Daewoo counterclaimed, arguing that the patents are invalid and their enforcement constitutes an antitrust violation because the patents were […]
Patent Challenge Dismissed Because Brand Market Too Narrow
August 18, 2010 – 12:58 pm
S.D. NY Judge Paul Gardephe has dismissed antitrust claims alleging that Bayer had used patents on the drugs Yasmin and Yaz anticompetitively. The court dismissed on the ground that the plaintiff’s alleged relevant markets based on the active ingredients in the drugs were irrationally narrow.