The FTC has sought a temporary restraining order in the Southern District of Texas to block the acquisition of Newpark Environmental Services by CCS Corp. while proceeding before the FTC go forward. Both companies provide waste disposal services to the offshore oil and gas industry. The FTC claims that the companies are close competitors and […]
Category Archives: US Federal Courts
Webkinz Tying Cases Consolidated
October 28, 2008 – 2:33 pm
Cases filed by toy retailers alleging the toy manufacturer Ganz unlawfully tied the purchase of ancillary products to its popular Webkinz toy were consolidated by the Judicial Panel on Multi-district Litigation before the Northern District of California. The case is captioned In re: Webkinz Antitrust Litigation.
Delaware Challenges Title Insurance Rate Setting
October 22, 2008 – 9:57 am
The state of Delaware has challenged rate setting practices by title insurance companies comprising 98% of the Delaware market. The District of Delaware case alleges that the companies agree on rates and implement them without effective regulatory review.
DOJ Challenged Beef Packing Merger
October 22, 2008 – 9:41 am
Earlier this year, JBS SA, the third largest beef packer in the US, acquired National Beef Packing and Smithfield, the fourth and fifth largest packers, respectively. The Antitrust Division filed suit in the Northern District of Illinois challenging JBS’s acquisition of National Beef, but not Smithfield. The acquisition would create the largest beef packer with […]
Court Dismisses Sham Litigation Claim, Permits Walker Process Claim to Proceed
October 22, 2008 – 9:33 am
In response to a patent enforcement suit by SanDisk, ST Microelectronic’s filed an antitrust counter-claim arguing that SanDisk’s enforcement action was a sham and that it had obtained its patent fraudulently. The court dismissed the sham litigation counterclaim on the ground that SanDisk’s claim was not objectively groundless. It found sufficient allegations of fraud on […]
Fraudulent Agreement to Inflate Drug Prices Not Anticompetitive
October 17, 2008 – 11:07 am
On August 26, 2008, a District of Massachusetts Federal District Court dismissed an antitrust class action challenging an agreement between McKesson, a drug wholesaler, and First Databank, a publisher of drug prices, to inflate the average whole price and thus the price paid by insurer providers to pharmacists. Relying on the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision […]
9th Circuit Affirms State Law Antitrust Violation
October 15, 2008 – 2:40 pm
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Nineth Circuit recently upheld a verdict finding that a coupon printer’s right-of-first-refusal contracts constituted unlawful exclusive dealing under the Cartwright Act, California’s antitrust law. The court also upheld, however, the lower courts refusal to impose an injunction permanently banning right-of-first-refusal contracts on the ground that they can be […]
Court Denies NHL Motion to Dismiss Based on Single Entity Defense
October 14, 2008 – 10:52 am
Madison Square Garden has sued the National Hockey League, arguing that the league anticompetitively restrains competition among the teams in ways that are not necessary to the joint venture. Most relevant to the case is MSG’s claim that the league has anticompetitively forced all of the teams to use a standardized website. The NHL moved […]
Digital Music Case Dismissed
October 13, 2008 – 12:43 pm
Judge Loretta Preska dismissed a putative class action against major record labels on the ground that the complaint failed to allege sufficient facts to establish an anticompetitive agreement under the recent Twombly decision. Plaintiffs, according to the court, needed to demonstrate the lack of a legitimate purpose in the companies dealings with each other and […]
Dicover Suit Against Visa/MasterCard Settled
October 13, 2008 – 9:35 am
Update: The parties are confirming that they have agreed to settle the case. No dollar figures have been released. Judge Barbara Jones, Southern District of New York, issued a sweeping and bold decision permitting Discover to reach a jury on its claim that Visa and MasterCard antitcompetitively restrained banks from issuing Discover cards. The case […]