Category Archives: Noerr-Pennington

Tax Preparation E-filing Agreement Exempt From Antitrust Scrutiny

The Third Circuit held that an agreement among tax preparers, including Intuit, H&R Block Digital Tax Solutions, and the Free File Alliance  with the IRS limiting the number of free e-filers to 50% of all taxpayers could not violate the antitrust laws because it constituted exempt petitioning of a government agency.  The court rejected the plaintiffs’ claim that an [...]

Georgia Federal Court Upholds Reverse Payment Drug Patent Settlement

In a multi-district consolidation, Judge Thrash, Northern District of Georgia, ruled that reverse payment settlements between Solvay Pharmaceuticals and generic drug makers involving the testosterone supplement AndroGel were legal. The Federal Trade Commission and private plaintiffs had alleged that the settlements were anticompetitive because they constituted payments in exchange for keeping generic competition off the [...]

MP3 Maker Claim Against Apple Dismissed

In Luxpro Corp. v. Apple Inc., Western District of Arkansas Judge Harry F. Barnes handed down an order dismissing Taiwanese MP3 player maker Luxpro Corp.’s claims against Apple Inc., for attempted common law monopolization and for interfering with Luxpro’s business partners by sending letters demanding that they cease all business relations with Luxpro and filing groundless litigation.  The [...]

Court Upholds Jury Verdict Finding Petition in Opposition to Generic Drugs Baseless

In Louisiana Drug Co. Inc. v. Sanofi-Aventis et al., Southern District of New York Judge Harold Baer Jr.refused to overturn a jury verdict or grant Louisiana Wholesale Drug Co. Inc. a new trial in an antitrust class action filed by the drug wholesaler.  The case accused Sanofi-Aventis U.S. LLC of submitting a sham citizen petition to [...]