Puerto Rico Court Denies Motion to Dismiss Cable Company’s Antitrust Suit

In Puerto Rico Telephone Co. Inc. v. San Juan Cable LLC d/b/a OneLink Communications, Puerto Rico District Court Judge Gustavo A. Gelpi denied San Juan Cable LLC’s motion to dismiss Puerto Rico Telephone Co. Inc.’s suit accusing the company of violating federal and Puerto Rico antitrust by filing numerous lawsuits against PRTC to prevent it from entering into the market.  The court held that the complaint contains sufficient factual allegations that by delaying PRTC from entering into the market, defendant fostered an anti-competitive market, resulting in higher fees to the public, and causing plaintiffs to lose revenue.  As part of its ruling, the court dismissed defendant’s contention that PRTC had failed to allege antitrust injury and that OneLink’s conduct was allowed under the Noerr-Pennington doctrine, which immunizes petitioners from antitrust liability.  The court held that there is an exception to this general rule when the petition seeking redress is a sham.  Such sham petitions would be found invalid should they be deemed “objectively baseless in the sense that no reasonable litigant could realistically expect success on the merits.”  According to the court, the seven separate proceedings brought by OneLink against PRTC are enough to meet this “objectively baseless” qualification.

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