The Ninth Circuit recently dismissed a Section 2 claim against the social networking site Myspace. The plaintiff, LiveUniverse Inc., alleged that Myspace violated Section 2 by disabling links to other social networking sites. Although the court agreed that Myspace had market power, its conduct was not deemed to be exclusionary. LiveUniverse argued the Myspace’s practice […]
Author Archives: Steve Semeraro
Court Certifies Class in Heart Drug Patent Case
January 4, 2009 – 1:13 pm
Judge Joseph Greenaway, US District Court for the District of New Jersey, in In re: K-Dur Antitrust Litigation has certified a class of direct purchasers of the Schering-Plough drug K-Dur 20. The case alleges that Schering improperly delayed the introduction of a generic version of the drug by making settlement payments to competitors that had filed abbrevieated […]
Court Approves Settlement of DNA Patent Class Action
January 4, 2009 – 1:04 pm
Judge Henry Kennedy of the US District Court for the District of Columbia approved a $33 million settlement between Hoffmann-LaRoche and a class of plaintiffs that used DNA identification technology. The case alleged that LaRoche had obtained the relevant patent through fraud on the patent office.
EC Raids Pharmaceutical Companies
December 30, 2008 – 2:04 pm
The European Commission has reportedly raided the offices of pharmaceutical companies suspected of breaching EU competition rules by operating a cartel or abusing market position. Without identifying the companies, the Commission said only that the inspections had taken place in “several” EU Member States. The raids took place ahead of the publication of a 400-page Commission report […]
EU Power Transformer Investigation
December 11, 2008 – 12:04 pm
On December 11, the EC acknolwedged that it had issued a Statement of Objections to multiple, but unnamed, power transformers producers, concerning their alleged participation in a cartel.
US Supreme Court Denies Cert, Upholding Decision that Tennis Tournament Restructuring Was Not Anticompetitive
December 2, 2008 – 1:14 am
Update December 2010: The U.S. Supreme Court declined to grant a writ of certiorari. Update June 2010: The Third Circuit has affirmed the juries decision in favor of the defendant on the ground that the plaintiffs failed to prove a relevant market. In a Delaware U.S. District Court case, the jury found for the defendant […]
Leading EU Auto Glass Producers Fined for Cartel Behavior
December 1, 2008 – 7:57 pm
The European Commission recently fined auto glass producers — Asahi, Pilkington, Saint-Bogain, and Soliver — with over 90% of the market for engaging in a market sharing cartel from 1998-2003.
Court Dimisses Per Se Challenge to Staples/HP Printer Ink Deal
December 1, 2008 – 6:19 pm
A class action complaint alleged that the Staples/HP deal in which Staples agreed to stop selling its own ink for HP printers and instead to promote the HP band of ink constituted a per se illegal horizontal agreement not to compete. Apparently intending to reach the appellate level quickly, the plaintiffs alleged only a per […]
California Supreme Court to Decide Whether Cartwright Act Permits Pass-on Defense
December 1, 2008 – 4:05 pm
Under Federal antitrust law, a defendant cannot defend against a claim by arguing that the plaintiff did not suffer injury as a result of anticompetitive overcharges because the plaintiff passed on the overcharge through higher prices of its own. Indirect purchases, under federal law, are generally barred from suit. In Clayworth v. Pfizer, the California […]
Large Commercial Insurance Consortium Receives Positive Business Review
December 1, 2008 – 3:50 pm
The Antitrust Division stated no present intent to challenge a consortium of insurers to issue commercial policies in excess of $250. The members of the consortium currently supply less than 5% of the market and would be permitted to enter individual bids in competition with the consortium. The Division stated that it believed that the […]