The Second Circuit has upheld a trial court decision rejecting The New Phone Co.’s challenge to a New York City ordinance that regulates pay phone installation on public property. (The city claims no authority to regulate pay phone installation on private property.) The plaintiff alleged that because Verizon had locked up all of the good […]
Category Archives: US Federal Courts
Second Circuit Holds NYC Immune From Antitrust Challenge on Pay Phone Restrictions
December 9, 2009 – 11:46 am
US Supreme Court Denies Cert in FTC v. Rambus
December 8, 2009 – 5:16 pm
Update December 2009: The EC has agreed to close its investigation of Rambus in exchange for Rambus’s agreement to issue royalty free licenses for its SDR and DDR chips and to charge 1.5% for patents necessary for later chip standards, a percentage point reduction from the company’s current royalties for DDR chips. Ramus is not […]
Federal Court Certifies Classes in SRAM Price Fixing Case
December 2, 2009 – 9:58 am
A federal antitrust investigation of the SRAM chip manufacturing industry has led to a multi-class consolidated multi-district litigation in the Northern District of California. The case alleges price fixing from 1996 through 2006. Judge Claudia Wilken has certified nationwide classes of direct and indirect purchasers as well as state classes.
Air Travel Price Fixing Case Dismissed For Lack Of Anti-Competitive Effect
December 1, 2009 – 4:14 pm
In McLafferty v. Deutsche Lufthansa AG et al., Eastern District of Pennsylvania Judge Louis H. Pollack dismissed a putative class action brought by an American who accused four foreign airlines, including Deutsche Lufthansa AG and Air France, of conspiring to fix price of air travel between Europe and Japan. The court ruled that the Foreign […]
Pricing Case Against Home Depot Dismissed
December 1, 2009 – 4:12 pm
In Andrea Spiegler et al. v. Home Depot USA Inc. et al., the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal of a putative class action accusing Home Depot USA Inc. of breaching a contract and violating competition laws by overcharging customers for cabinet resurfacing work. The court found that contracts between Home Depot and its […]
US Trade Court Hold First Sale Doctrine Inapplicable to Foreign Books
December 1, 2009 – 4:11 pm
In John Wiley & Sons Inc. v. Supap Kirtsaeng et al., U.S. Court of International Trade Judge Donald C. Pogue handed down an opinion prohibiting defendant Supap Kurtsaeng from raising the first-sale-doctrine defense in an upcoming jury trial. Publisher John Wiley & Sons Inc.’s accused Kurtsaeng of unlawfully importing and reselling textbooks in violation of various intellectual property […]
Second Circuit Permits Generic Drug Price Fixing Case to Move Forward
December 1, 2009 – 4:07 pm
In In re: DDAVP Direct Purchaser Antitrust Litigation, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals has overturned a lower court’s dismissal of an antitrust case alleging that Ferring Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Aventis Pharmaceuticals Inc. conspired to keep generic drugs off the shelves by fraudulently acquiring a patent for diabetes drug DDVAP. The court held that the plaintiffs have […]
California FDC Upholds Monopolization Claim Against Children’s Hospital
December 1, 2009 – 1:53 pm
In Perinatal Medical Group v. Children’s Hosp. of Central CA, Eastern District of California judge Lawrence O’Neill refused to dismiss a Section 2 claim against the hospital for requiring demanding that the plaintiffs agree to only assign patients to the Children’s Hospital, and when the group refused, entering an exclusive contract with a sub-group of […]
Heavy-duty Transmission Manufacturer Illegal Forced Exclusive Dealing
October 27, 2009 – 12:34 pm
In ZF Meritor LLC and Meritor Transmission Corp. v. Eaton Corp., District of Delaware jury found that Eaton Corp. violated the Sherman Act and the Clayton Act, in the heavy-duty truck transmission market in a suit brought by two affiliates of rival ArvinMeritor Inc. In their suit, Plaintiffs claimed that Eaton used its dominant position in […]