Update June 2011: The court denied the plaintiff’s motion to reconsider its decision. Southern District of NY Judge Shira Scheindlin ruled that Plaintiff, Charles Simon, lacked standing to sue electric power supplier KeySpan and Morgan Stanley for allegedly manipulating the price of power sold to Simon’s utility, Con Edison. KeySpan paid $12 million to settle [...]
Category Archives: Antitrust Standing
Asparagus Seed Patent Challenge Needs to Allege Knowing Fraud to Support Antitrust Claims
June 1, 2011 – 10:23 am
District of New Jersey Judge Freda L. Wolfson dismissed antitrust claims filed by Jersey Asparagus Farms Inc. against Rutgers University concerning patents for asparagus seeds. The plaintiff alleged that the patents were invalid on the ground that Rutgers failed to disclose prior art to the PTO. Recognizing that fraudulently obtaining a patent may violate the antitrust [...]
Credit Card Foreign Purchase Fee Conspiracy Case Against AmEx to Move Forward
May 31, 2011 – 2:16 pm
Southern District of New York Judge William H. Pauley III denied AmEx’s motion for summary judgment in a case alleging that American Express (1) conspired with banks to increase foreign transaction fees for using the cards to purchase items priced in foreign currencies and (2) imposed improper arbitration clauses in its cardholder contracts. AmEx argued that the [...]
California Auto Insurer Parts Conspiracy Case to Move Forward
May 31, 2011 – 1:53 pm
Northern District of California Judge James Ware refused to dismiss a putative class action alleging that California auto insurers violated the Cartwright Act, California’s antitrust statute, by conspiring to require auto repair shops to use inferior replacement parts. The case had been twice dismissed and then revived by the 9th Circuit on standing and insurance [...]
E-bay Monopolization Case Dismissed
May 28, 2011 – 11:26 am
Update May 2011: The 9th Circuit affirmed the district court’s decision. Judge Jeremy Fogel, N.D. California, has granted summary judgment to E-bay in a case alleging that it monopolized the online auction market on the ground that the plaintiffs lacked antitrust injury. The court found that the plaintiffs had presented no evidence of either restricted output [...]
Court Allows Plaintiffs To Amend Complaint in On-Line DVD Rental Antitrust Suit
May 8, 2011 – 6:23 pm
Update May 2011: The court dismissed claims filed by Blockbuster customers, alleging that the Walmart/Netflix deal led directly to Blockbuster raising its prices. The court held that there was insufficient evidence of a direct link between Update July 2010: The court has denied Walmart’s and Netflix’s motion to dismiss. Although retaining doubt about the plaintiffs’ [...]
Antitrust Claims Dismissed Against Realtor Association
February 17, 2011 – 10:26 am
Southern District of Georgia Judge Randell Hall dismissed with prejudice a Real-estate broker’s suit alleging that the Greater Augusta Association of Realtors Inc. (GAAR) violated the Sherman Act by adopting rules that discriminated against agents who operated solely online. Separately, Keller alleged that the rules violated a consent judgment in an earlier case. There the [...]
Patent Exclusion Suit Dismissed on Standing Grounds
January 22, 2011 – 7:06 pm
Southern District of New York Judge Denise Cote dismissed antitrust claims filed by Siti against a nonprofit patent-holding company and telecommunications giants Verizon Communications Inc., Cisco Systems Inc. and Ericsson Inc. The plaintiff alleged that the defendants set up the holding company to o prevent small companies from selling or licensing their patents at fair market value. [...]
Montana State Antitrust Dispute Resolved on Summary Judgment
January 22, 2011 – 6:26 pm
District of Montana Judge Richard F. Cebull dismissed state antitrust claims filed by Montana Camo brought under the state’s Unfair Trade Practices Act, granting Cabela’s motion for summary judgment. The plaintiff supplied camouflage clothing and licensed clothing designs to Cabela’s until disagreements arose over pricing. Montana Camo claims that Cabela’s violated state antitrust law by (1) [...]
Indirect Payers Fail to Vacate Summary Judgment Against Bank America and Others for Fee Fixing
January 17, 2011 – 12:16 am
Northern District of California Judge Charles Breyer denied plaintiff bank customers’ motion to vacate a judgment, upholding an earlier ruling granting summary judgment for defendants. Plaintiffs lacked standing, the court held, to sue Bank of America and others for conspiring to fix ATM charge fees. Judge Breyer explained that the indirect payers of these fees could [...]