In Willow Creek Fuels Inc. v. Farm & Home Oil Co. et al., Eastern District of Pennsylvania Judge C. Darnell Jones II has dismissed antitrust claims brought by bankrupt Willow Creek Fuels Inc. in a $25 million lawsuit accusing a former supplier Farm & Home Oil Co., of breaking distribution contracts, merging with a Willow […]
Author Archives: Steve Semeraro
Failure to Disclose Patent to Standard Setting Organization Can Be Monopolization
October 15, 2009 – 11:44 am
In Actividentity Corp. v. Intercede Group PLC et al., Northern District of California Judge Vaugh R. Walker has refused to dismiss smart card maker Intercede Ltd.’s allegations that rival Actividentity Corp. monopolized the relevant market by failing to disclose to a standards-setting organization a patent covering technology for remotely updating the devices. The court held […]
FTC Probes Google/Apple Interlocking Directors
October 9, 2009 – 11:48 am
Update October 2009: Arthur Levison, an Apple director since 2000, has resigned his position on the Google board. Update July 2009: Eric Schmidt resigned his seat on the Apple board citing increased competition between Apple and Google. The FTC applauded the decision but vowed to continue the investigation. The FTC has launched a probe into […]
EC Imposes One Billion Euro Fine on Intel
October 6, 2009 – 1:50 pm
Update Oct. 2009: Intel has appealed the EC’s fine to the European Court of First Instance. Update Sept. 2009: The European Commission has published a non-confidential version of its May 13, 2009 Intel Decision that found that Intel violated Article 82 by excluding competitors from the market for computer chips. Update July 2009: Intel has appealed this fine to the […]
FTC/DOJ to Revise Merger Guidelines
October 6, 2009 – 1:20 pm
For the first time since 1992, the U.S. Department of Justice, Antitrust Division, and the Federal Trade Commission plan to revise the merger guidelines that explain the federal government’s enforcement policy with respect to mergers between horizontal competitors. Originally drafted in 1968, the guidelines underwent major revisions in the 1980s and again in the early […]
MP3 Maker Claim Against Apple Dismissed
October 6, 2009 – 12:56 pm
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 […]
Hospitals May Maintain Exclusive Practice & Exclude Outside Doctors
October 6, 2009 – 12:53 pm
In Four Corners Nephrology Associates PC et al. v. Mercy Medical Center, Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed a lower court’s decision, ruling that Colorado’s Mercy Medical Center did not break federal or state antitrust laws when it gave a single provider exclusive rights to in-house nephrology services, because the hospital had no antitrust […]
Dole Not a Pineapple Monopoly
October 6, 2009 – 12:49 pm
In In Re: Pineapple Antitrust Litigation, Southern District of New York Judge Richard M. Berman handed Del Monte Fresh Produce Co. an emphatic victory against retailers and consumers that had accused the company of exploiting monopoly power in the market for extra sweet pineapple by using sham patent litigation since 1996 to gain a stranglehold and […]
Chicago Nurses Can’t Show Classwide Injury
October 1, 2009 – 2:21 pm
In Reed v. Advocate Health Care et al., Northern District of Illinois Judge John F. Grady, has denied class certification to a group of nurses who had sued four separate hospital systems in the greater Chicago area alleging that the institutions colluded to suppress their wages. In their suit, the nurses claimed that five Chicago-area […]
Court Permits Antitrust Attack on County Imposition of Exclusive Ambulance Territories
October 1, 2009 – 2:18 pm
In Patriot Ambulance Service Inc. et al. v. Genesee, County of et al., and Swartz Ambulance Service Inc. v. Genesee County of et al., Eastern District of Michigan Judge Marianne O. Battani dismissed several defendants and the monetary damages claims, but permitted federal antitrust claims to proceed. Two ambulance service companies’ are challenging a Michigan county’s ordinance dividing […]