The Third Circuit affirmed the dismisal of two cases challenging Dentsply’s agreements with dealers with respect to the sale of competitive artificial teeth. The court first upheld the denial of the plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment on the ground that an earlier decision against Dentsply in a government case was not sufficient to establish injury […]
Category Archives: US Federal Courts
Ninth Circuit Holds that AT&T Did Not Monopolize Underground Concrete Vault Market
May 27, 2010 – 1:41 pm
The Ninth Circuit affirmed summary judgment for a group of AT&T affiliates holding that a contract with a supplier of underground concrete vaults used by developers to install wiring did not improperly monopolize the market because it did not result in supra-competitive prices and did not improperly harm the plaintiff’s market position.
No Price Fixing Conspiracy in Text Message Price Fixing Case
May 26, 2010 – 6:35 pm
Update May 2010: The court has held that the plaintiffs more detailed amended complaint property alleges a conspiracy. The amended complaint alleges that the defendants used the Wireless Internet Caucus to facilitate price fixing agreements with respect to text messages, including specific dates and executives who attended the meetings. Although the defendants argued that the […]
Supreme Court Holds that NFL Teams May Conspire
May 25, 2010 – 3:07 pm
Updated May 2010: The U.S. Supreme Court has reversed the Seventh Circuit, holding that the NFL constitutes a group of separate individual teams that may conspire in violation of the Section 1 of the Sherman Act. Update July 2009: The U.S. Supreme Court has granted certiorari to decide whether a sports league can constitute a […]
AT&T Is Restrained From Continuing Its Allegedly Predatory Pricing Programs
May 25, 2010 – 12:30 pm
Update May 2010: The Fifth Circuit overturned the preliminary injunction and granted AT&T’s motion to dismiss on the ground that the federal courts lack subject matter jurisdiction to review the content of interconnection agreements governed by state law. Update December 2009: Judge Solis denied AT&T’s motion to dismiss & converted the TRO into a PI. […]
Casino Game Antitrust Suit to Proceed to Trial
May 25, 2010 – 9:54 am
Update May 2010: Judge Sue L. Robinson, District of Delaware dismissed Bally’s antitrust counterclaims on the ground that successful patent litigation cannot give rise to antitrust liability. The case is currently pending appeal on the court’s conclusion that the patents were valid. Update: The trial judge has certified its decision on the validity of IGT’s […]
Generic Toprol-XL Litigation Goes Forward
April 19, 2010 – 3:27 pm
District of Delaware Judge Gregory Sleet refused to dismiss class action complaints filed by director purchasers and end-payors of AstraZeneca’s Toprol-XL. Plaintiffs alleged that the patent was obtained through inequitable conduct and that infringement litigation blocking the entry of a generic competitor was sham litigation. AstraZeneca argued that the delay was the result of the […]
Drug Purchasers’ Challenge to Exclusion of Generic Dismissed
April 19, 2010 – 2:04 pm
Southern District of Ohio Judge Michael Watson dismissed an antitrust claim brought be direct purchasers of the drug Plavix against the patent holder and its generic competitor alleging that they anticompetitively kept generic Plavix from the market. The patent holder and generic competitor had reached a settlement agreement that was rejected by the FTC. The parties […]
Drug Patent Reverse Payment Settlement Challenge Thrown Out
April 9, 2010 – 4:52 pm
Third Circuit Judge Joseph Greenaway, Jr., sitting by designation in the District of NJ granted summary judgment in favor of Schering-Plough in a case challenging a reverse payment settlement involving the drug K-Dur 20. The court held that since the settlements permit the introduction of competing drugs before the expiration of the patent, they could […]