October 30, 2012 – 11:32 am
In ZF Meritor v. Eaton Corp., a divided panel of the Third Circuit upheld a jury verdict in favor of the plaintiff truck transmission manufacturer against its competitor Eaton Corp. The complaint alleged that Eaton violated the antitrust laws by entering agreements with each large truck manufacturer that contained the following provisions: (1) Conditional rebate […]
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal has affirmed the dismissal of antitrust claims against television programmers and pay–TV providers who market bundled cable and satellite TV programming. The proposed class action accused the defendants, who include NBC, Comcast, DirecTV and others, of harming consumers by bundling popular programs with less desirable content, forcing consumers to […]
The Third Circuit held that because it is not a direct purchaser, a Pennsylvania hospital lacks standing to represent a class of purchasers accusing Amgen Inc. of violating federal antitrust laws by tying pharmaceutical rebates to purchases of its anemia drug Aranesp. Hospital Warren General filed its putative class action in September 2009, alleging Amgen […]
Update January 2011: The Third Circuit affirmed the district court’s holding that the hospital was not a direct purchaser under Illinois Brick and therefore lacked standing under Section 4 of the Clayton Act. This decision may be erroneous for at least two reasons. First, the Illinois Brick rule prohibits indirect purchasers from recovering damages for […]
Northern District of Ohio Judge David Dowd refused to dismiss antitrust claims filed by automatic key-cutting machine manufacturer Hy-Ko Products, Inc., and the leading key-cutting machine manufacturer, the Hillman Group, and the leading supplier of blank keys, Kaba Ilco, Corp. The plaintiff alleges that the defendants, acting separately and in concert, used their market power […]
October 14, 2010 – 5:30 pm
Central District of CA Judge Dean Pregerson MeadWestvaco’s motion to dismiss in a case filed by Blue Sky The Color of Imagination, a competitor in the market for dated products such as calendars and datebooks. Blue Sky alleged that Mead holds about 90% of the market and that by offering bundled discounts to stores that […]
Update April 2010: The court denied Philips motion to reconsider and responded to Philips’ argument that it could not make its patent misuse defense without discovery on the antitrust claims by bifurcating and staying discovery on Philips patent misuse as well. Update March 2010: The court has agreed to postpone consideration of Philips antitrust counterclaims pending […]
February 8, 2010 – 5:51 pm
Update September 2010: The Ninth Circuit has denied Abbott’s petition for writ of mandamus seeking the dismissal of the antitrust claims against it. In Rite Aid Corp. et al. v. Abbott Laboratories; and Safeway Inc. et al. v. Abbott Laboratories, Northern California District Judge Claudia Wilken denied Abbott’s omnibus motion to dismiss plaintiffs’ claims based […]
January 7, 2010 – 10:24 am
Upate January 2010: The Ninth Circuit has again ruled in favor of Tyco in a putative class action filed by Applied Orthopedic Appliances alleging that Tyco had sought to monpolize the medical device market. The appellate court affirmed summary judgment in favor of Tyco. In Masimo Corp. v. Tyco Health Care Group LP et al., Ninth […]