Update August 2011: The Eighth Circuit affirmed, holding that the FTC failed to show that the lower court’s findings of fact were clearly erroneous. In particular, the court held that the FTC failed to show that the hospitals actually paying for the drugs in question directly influenced the doctors’ choice of which drug to prescribe. [...]
Category Archives: US Federal Courts
Catheter Class Action Dismissal Affirmed on Appeal
August 5, 2011 – 11:49 am
Update August 2011: The Eighth Circuit has denied rehearing en banc. Update June 2011: In a divided decision, the Eighth Circuit on rehearing affirmed its decision upholding summary judgment for CR Bard on the ground that the plaintiff failed to allege sufficiently a relevant sub-market. Update October 2010: The Eighth Circuit panel has agreed to [...]
Generics vs. Prilosec Lawsuit Dismissed by SDNY
July 20, 2011 – 2:29 pm
Southern District of New York Judge P. Kevin Castel dismissed a class action complaint against the sellers of Prilosec for failure to allege a plausible relevant product market. American Sales Co. Inc.’s proposed class action alleges AstraZeneca AB and The Procter & Gamble Co. initiated sham patent suits in order to perpetuate an unlawful monopoly [...]
Gallery’s Antitrust and Trade Disparagement Claims Dismissed
July 20, 2011 – 2:23 pm
Southern District of New York Judge Barbara S. Jones dismissed a lawsuit accusing Marlborough Gallery Inc. of an attempt to monopolize and unfairly eliminate competition for the ceramic works of artist Chu Teh-Chun. In the lawsuit, SARL Galerie Enrico Navarra alleged that Marlborough sought to discredit the gallery and the reproductions of ceramic plates it [...]
Antitrust Class Action Against Apple Dismissed
July 20, 2011 – 2:22 pm
Northern District of California Judge James Ware has dismissed with prejudice a putative class action alleging that Apple Inc. violated the antitrust laws by updating its iTunes media player software to thwart programs that would have removed encryption from music files sold through the iTunes Music Store. The suit, filed on behalf of Itunes music [...]
En Banc Ninth Circuit Holds that Grocers Agreement To Share Profits in the Event of a Strike Subject to Rule of Reason
July 14, 2011 – 2:33 pm
Update July 2011: An en banc panel of the 9th Circuit reversed, holding that although the supermarket chains’ profit sharing agreement was subject to antitrust review, the panel erred in treating it as inherently anticompetitive. Because the purpose of the agreement was to support the chains in collective bargaining negotiations, and thus lower labor costs, [...]
Tractor Price Discrimination Suit Fails
July 7, 2011 – 5:30 pm
The Sixth Circuit has heldthat the plaintiff’s failure to specifically plead facts of price discrimination was fatal to New Albany Tractor Inc.’s complaint against Louisville Tractor Inc. and Metalcraft of Mayville Inc. over mowing equipment. The Court cited the U.S. Supreme Court’s Twombly and Iqbaldecisions for the proposition that a plaintiff could not use the discovery process to obtain the [...]
Motions to Dismiss Denied in Prosthetics Gel Liner Patent Case
July 7, 2011 – 5:25 pm
Southern District of Ohio Judge Edmund A. Sargus, Jr., denied motions to dismiss a complaint against prosthetics maker The Ohio Willow Wood Co. Inc. and inventor Bruce Kania, rejecting the defendants’ argument that the suit failed to state a claim under Section 1 of the Sherman Act because it alleges harm caused by patent enforcement. [...]