In Redbox Automated Retail LLC v. Universal Studios Home Entertainment LLC et al., Delaware District Court Judge Robert B. Kugler allowed Redbox Automated Retail LLC to proceed with its antitrust allegations against Universal Studios Home Entertainment LLC, while dismissing Redbox’s misuse of copyright and interference with contract allegations. Judge Kugler found that Redbox had sufficiently […]
Author Archives: Steve Semeraro
Fourth Circuit Affirms that Maryland Liquor Regulation is Anticompetitive
August 20, 2009 – 4:07 pm
In TFWS Inc. v. Peter Franchot et al., 4th Circuit Court of Appeals refused to reverse its earlier decision that Maryland’s liquor and wine regulations involving 1) post-and-hold pricing system, which governs how and when liquor wholesalers may charge their prices; and 2) a volume discount ban, which prevents wholesalers from offering lower prices to […]
Court Dismisses Lumber Cartel Complaint on Twombly Grounds
August 20, 2009 – 2:36 pm
In Bailey Lumber & Supply Co. et al. v. Georgia-Pacific Corp. et al., Southern District of Mississippi Judge Louis Guirola, Jr. has approved a bid by building products manufacturers Georgia-Pacific Co., Weyerhaeuser Co., and Louisiana-Pacific Corp., to dismiss claims of an antitrust conspiracy to fix prices for plywood. The plaintiffs, Bailey Lumber & Supply Co. and […]
D.C. Circuit Remands Airline Antitrust Claims to DOT
August 20, 2009 – 2:34 pm
In Alaska Airlines Inc. et al. v. U.S. Department of Transportation, U.S. Circuit Court for the District of Columbia has ordered the U.S. Department of Transportation to reconsider antitrust allegations by Southwest Airlines Co., US Airways Group Inc. and other airlines that Los Angeles International Airport and the city of Los Angeles unfairly discriminated in hiking […]
Small Local Telephone Providers Accuse AT&T of Predatory Pricing
August 18, 2009 – 5:43 pm
In a Northern District of Texas case, local telephone providers are accusing AT&T of seeking to drive them out of business by refusing to permit new customers of the competitors to receive the $50 rebate that AT&T provides to its own new customers. In the past, AT&T had made this rebate available to all new […]
Drug Wholesalers Sue Merck for Delaying Generic Singulair
August 18, 2009 – 5:33 pm
Drug wholesalers have sued Merck in the District of New Jersey alleging that it violated the antitrust laws in two ways. First, the complaint alleges that Merck obtained a patent for its Singulair asthma and allergy drug through fraud on the patent office, and in particular for failing to disclose its own prior art. Second, Merck filed […]
FTC Challenges Merger Between Heart Valve Device Makers
August 10, 2009 – 5:24 pm
The FTC has authorized a lawsuit to challenge Thoratec Corp.’s proposed $282 million takeover of rival medical device maker HeartWare International Inc.. The Commission claims that the merger would allow Thoratec to maintain its monopoly on the U.S. market of the left ventricular device (LVAD) used to keep patients suffering from end-stage heart failure alive while […]
Court Permits Patent Acquisition Antitrust Case to Proceed
August 10, 2009 – 5:05 pm
In Federal Trade Commission v. Ovation Pharmaceuticals Inc., and State of Minnesota v. Lundbeck Inc.,a Minnesota District Court Judge Joan N. Ericksen denied Lundbeck Inc.’s attempt to toss out the pair of suits launched by the FTC and the state of Minnesota, accusing the drug-maker of jacking up the price of NeoProfen, a drug used to treat […]
Ocean Spray Hit With Antitrust Claims in Patent Suit
August 7, 2009 – 2:07 pm
In Ocean Spray Cranberries Inc. v. Decas Cranberry Products Inc., Decas Cranberry Products Inc. filed a counterclaim in a patent infringement suit brought against it by Ocean Spray Cranberries Inc., alleging that Ocean Spray’s patent infringement suit was filed in “bad faith” in order to 1) scare away firms interested in purchasing Decas; and 2) to discount Decas’ asking price […]
FCC to Investigate Apple over Google Exclusion
August 7, 2009 – 1:34 pm
The FTC will investigate Apple’s decision to block a Google voice application for the iPhone. The FTC is concerned that the decision may be an outgrowth of Apple’s exclusive agreement with AT&T to provide phone service with the iPhone, and thus Apple’s decision may be intended to prevent competition between Google and AT&T.