A Northern District of CA federal district court judge recently rejected motions to dismiss in a number of consolidated cases alleging price fixing among flat panel display producers. Although the court required the plaintiffs to amend the complaint to add more specific allegations in some circumstances, it held that the complaint generally was sufficient to satisfy Twombly […]
Category Archives: US Federal Courts
Case Alleges that SmithKline Beecham Anticompetitive Delayed Generic Flonase
August 25, 2008 – 11:54 am
July 2009: In a case brought by Roxane Laboratories, Judge Anita Brody, Eastern District of Pennsylvania, denied SKB’s motion to dismiss after the plaintiff amended the complaint to allege specific reasons to believe that it’s ANDA would have been approved for generic Flonase were it not for SKB’s strategically filed consumer complaints. Roxane alleged that it […]
Monopolization Case Filed Against Dental Laser Manufacturer
August 22, 2008 – 4:43 pm
National Laser Technologies, a company that refurbishes and sells used dental lasers, has sued Biolase Technology in the Southern District of Indiana, alleging that the laser manufacturer has monopolized the dental laser market by threatening to refuse to sell essential products to dentists that purchase used lasers from National Laser.
Another Drug Discounting Monopolization Case
August 22, 2008 – 4:32 pm
Eisai, Inc. has filed an antitrust case in the District of New Jersey alleging that Sanofi-Aventis violated the antitrust laws by offering a discount program pegged to the percentage of the purchaser’s anti-coagulant drug needs that are fulfilled by Sanofi-Aventis drugs. The complaint alleges that the largest discounts require customers to purchase 90% of their need […]
Salary-Fixing Case Against Oil Companies Dismissed
August 22, 2008 – 4:20 pm
Judge Garrett Brown, District of New Jersey, recently dismissed a group of consolidated cases alleging that oil companies conspired to circulate salary information through trade groups with the effect of suppressing salaries in the industry. The court dismissed for failure to show that the oil industry constituted a relevant market with respect to the types […]
Foreign Consumer’s Injury Not Directly Linked to Anticompetitive Effect in the U.S.
August 15, 2008 – 11:07 am
The Nineth Circuit recently upheld the dismissal of a price fixing case against computer memory chip manufacturers that had been filed by Centerprise, a British computer manufacturer. The court held that the Foreign Trade Antitrust Improvements Act requires a foreign consumer to show that its injury flowed directly from anticompetitive effects of the defendants’ conduct […]
Wood Pallet Monopolization Case to Go Forward
August 13, 2008 – 2:48 pm
A Western District of Arkansas district court refused to dismiss a monopolization claim a wood pallet supplier alleging anticompetitive efforts to raise its rivals costs. Best Pallets Inc. v. Brambles Industries.
Asparteme Direct Purchases Out, Indirect Purchasers?
August 13, 2008 – 2:45 pm
An Eastern District of Pennsylvania disctrict court granted summary judgement in In re Asparteme Antitrust Litigation on statute of limitation grounds against the remaining direct purchasers. The plaintiffs had alleged a worldwide conspiracy to divide markets and increase prices. The court must now deal with a class of indirect purchasers, whose claim had been stayed […]
Union Might Violate Antitrust Laws by Paying Employers to Hire Union Labor
August 5, 2008 – 3:45 am
The First Circuit reinstated an antitrust claim against a union for using dues to pay employers for hiring union labor. The court held that the labor exemption to the antitrust laws does not extend to collaboration with a non-labor group. The payments to employers, the court held, may fit within this exception to the exemption.
Anemia Drug Tying Case Settled
July 20, 2008 – 3:33 pm
In mid-July, Amgen agreed to settle a tying case in which a competitor alleged that the anemia drug producer’s pricing policies effectively tied the purchase of a competitive drug to two others in which it held a monopoly position. Related litigation involving this pricing practice is on-going. Update: In late September, the Sheet Metal Workers National Health […]