In Jeremy Soso v. Cox Enterprises Inc. et al., Cox has become the latest cable T.V. provider to be hit with a proposed class action suit alleging that the company illegally ties the purchase of its premium services to its cable boxes, in violation of the federal antitrust laws. The complaint filed in the U.S. […]
Category Archives: US Federal Courts
Qualcomm Patent Standard Challenge Dismissed on Standing Grounds
March 5, 2009 – 2:22 pm
In Meyer v. Qualcomm, the court dismissed the claim that Qualcomm acted anticompetitively in refusing to license patents essential to a standardized technology. The S.D. of California court ruled that the plaintiff lacked antitrust standing because the chip set it purchased included a broad package of technologies, not just the patented technology involved. Although the […]
LCD Private Action Survives Motion to Dismiss
March 5, 2009 – 2:09 pm
In In re: TFT-LCD (Flat Panel) Display Antitrust Litigation, N.D. California Judge Susan Illston denied the LCD television manufacturers’ motion to dismiss a private action filed by direct purchasers. The defendants argued that the allegations of conspiracy were too vague outside the post-2000 period covered by the defendants’ executives guilty pleas in a related criminal proceeding. […]
AP Hot News Doctrine Applied to the Internet
February 27, 2009 – 5:09 pm
In AP v. All Headlines News, the Southern District of New York has held that a publisher of hot news on the internet may sue to prohibit copying and republication by a competitor. The case harkens back to the 1918 US Supreme Court decision in AP v. UPI and constitutes the first time that the […]
Fiberglass Insulation Price-fixing Case to Go to Trial
February 17, 2009 – 1:10 pm
Northern District of Georgia Judge Julie Carnes denied defendant Masco motion for summary judgment in a case alleging that Masco, a large insulation contractor, orchestrated a price fixing cartel amoung four of the five largest fiberglass insulation manufacturers. The complaint alleges that because of its size, Masco was able to negotiate lower prices from the manufacturers than […]
Flat Glass Conspiracy Case To Proceed
February 12, 2009 – 5:50 pm
Judge Ambrose, Western District of Pennsylvania, denied the defendants motion to dismiss a putative class action alleging that the defendants fixed energy surcharges. The motion argued that the plaintiffs had alleged insufficient facts to establish a conspiracy under Twombly. The court held thought otherwise, holding the allegations sufficient because they pointed to a history of an inability to […]
Antitrust Attack on Concert Promotion Agreement Survives Motion to Dismiss
February 12, 2009 – 5:19 pm
A competing arena has attacked an agreement between concert promoter Live Nation and the Grand Rapids/Kent County Convention Authority that entitles 1) Live Nation to 1/3 of the revenue from non-Live Nation events at Convention Authority venues, and 2) the Convention Authority 1/3 of Live Nation’s revenue at Live Nation events scheduled at competing venues. The owner […]
ATM Interchange Fee Class Action Adopts Rule of Reason Theory
February 12, 2009 – 5:09 pm
The plaintiffs in In re: ATM Fee Antitrust Litigation have responded to the Northern District of California court’s grant of summary judgment to the defendants’ on their plaintiffs’ per se theory by amending the complaint to allege a rule of reason violation. The complaint alleges that the banks participating in the Star ATM network have […]
Freight Transport Price Fixing Case Dismissed
February 3, 2009 – 12:06 pm
Judge William Duffey, Northern District of Georgia, dismissed an antitrust complaint under Twombly for failing to sufficiently allege concerted activity among a group of freight transportation carriers. The court argued that allegations that merely allow one to imagine that a “conspiracy may have occurred” were insufficient because “imagination is not enough.” More specifically, the court […]