District of New Jersey Judge Susan D. Wigenton denied LendingTree’s motion to dismiss BanxCorp’s antitrust claims against it, finding that BanxCorp’s complaint contained sufficiently detailed factual allegations regarding a 2007 partnership between LendingTree and Bankrate Inc. BanxCorp, a bank-rate website company, alleged that LendingTree conspired with Bankrate to fix prices and control the online bank-rate […]
Author Archives: Steve Semeraro
April 15, 2011 – 1:32 pm
The Fifth Circuit panel of Judges E. Grady Jolly, Jacques L. Wiener Jr., and Carl E. Stewart upheld a dismissal of two class action cases alleging that oil companies owned by foreign governments in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (“OPEC”) violated U.S. antitrust law. The classes, U.S. gasoline retailers and oil purchasers, claimed that […]
The FTC Rules that NC Dental Board is Subject to Antitrust Law
April 15, 2011 – 1:21 pm
The Federal Trade Commission denied a motion to dismiss their administrative suit against the North Carolina State Board of Dental Examiners (the “Board”), finding that the state-action doctrine does not render the Board immune from the administrative antitrust proceeding. The FTC alleged that the Board violated the Sherman Act when they required that teeth whitening […]
DOJ Settles Antitrust Disgorgement Case
April 15, 2011 – 1:19 pm
Southern District of New York Judge William H. Pauley III approved a $12 million profit disgorgement antitrust settlement between KeySpan Corp. and the U.S. Department of Justice. The DOJ alleged that KeySpan kept electricity prices artificially high in New York City by obtaining a financial stake in one of its competitors. Its financial stake in […]
Plavix Purchasers’ Class Action Dismissed
April 15, 2011 – 1:11 pm
Southern District of Ohio Judge Michael Watson dismissed several class actions brought by purchasers of Plavix, holding that the classes failed to allege antitrust injury because a valid patent restricted the sale of generic Plavix. The plaintiffs alleged that they had to pay more for the name brand drug because Sanofi-Aventis SA and Bristol-Meyers Squibb […]
AmEx Denied Summary Judgment in Price Fixing Class Action
April 15, 2011 – 1:08 pm
Southern District of New York Judge William H. Pauley III denied American Express Co.’s motion for summary judgment on antitrust class action claims. Class members are users of Visa and MasterCard credit cards charged foreign transaction fees for purchases made in a foreign currency. In its claim filed in 2004, the class alleged that AmEx […]
DOJ to Investigate Google Book Deal
April 1, 2011 – 3:08 pm
Update March 2011: Southern District of NY Judge Denny Chin rejected a class action settlement between plaintiff publishers and Google that would have permitted Google to publish orphan works on an opt out basis. The Department of Justice and potential competitors such as Microsoft and Amazon argued that the settlement would allow Google to monopolize […]
Challenges to South Carolina MLS’s to Move Forward
March 27, 2011 – 3:41 pm
District of South Carolina Judge Sol Blatt Jr. let stand antitrust claims against two real estate multi-listing services. The defendants argued that the services and their members constituted a single entity incapable of conspiring under the antitrust laws. Rejecting that defense, the court held that the defendants were capable to conspiring to restrain competition.
US Supreme Court Declines to Review Dismissal of Leegin Price Fixing Case
February 19, 2011 – 12:39 pm
Update February 2011: The U.S. Supreme Court denied the plaintiff’s petition for certioari without comment. The Fifth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of an amended complaint that sought to cast what were originally vertical price fixing allegations has horizontal price fixing. The case brought by a discount retailer originally alleged that Leegin imposed vertical minimum resell […]