CBS Interactive, a provider of fantasy football games, has challenged in the District of Minnesota the NFL Players’ Associate demand for licensing fees for the right to use player statistics as part of its game. CBS Interative argues that the players demand constitutes an attempt to monopolize the fantasy football market. This case mirrors a […]
Author Archives: Steve Semeraro
Paying Drug Company Not to Release Generic May Violate the Antitrust Laws
September 8, 2008 – 11:43 am
Update September 2009: The California State Courts have granted summary judgment in favor of Barr in a case brought under that state’s antitrust laws by indirect purchasers challenging the reverse payment settlement in conjunction with the drug Cipro. The state court cited the Federal Circuit’s opinion holding that reverse payment settlement’s ordinarily did not violate […]
Flat Panel Display Case Survives Motion to Dismiss
September 4, 2008 – 2:59 pm
A Northern District of CA federal district court judge recently rejected motions to dismiss in a number of consolidated cases alleging price fixing among flat panel display producers. Although the court required the plaintiffs to amend the complaint to add more specific allegations in some circumstances, it held that the complaint generally was sufficient to satisfy Twombly […]
Case Alleges that SmithKline Beecham Anticompetitive Delayed Generic Flonase
August 25, 2008 – 11:54 am
July 2009: In a case brought by Roxane Laboratories, Judge Anita Brody, Eastern District of Pennsylvania, denied SKB’s motion to dismiss after the plaintiff amended the complaint to allege specific reasons to believe that it’s ANDA would have been approved for generic Flonase were it not for SKB’s strategically filed consumer complaints. Roxane alleged that it […]
Monopolization Case Filed Against Dental Laser Manufacturer
August 22, 2008 – 4:43 pm
National Laser Technologies, a company that refurbishes and sells used dental lasers, has sued Biolase Technology in the Southern District of Indiana, alleging that the laser manufacturer has monopolized the dental laser market by threatening to refuse to sell essential products to dentists that purchase used lasers from National Laser.
Another Drug Discounting Monopolization Case
August 22, 2008 – 4:32 pm
Eisai, Inc. has filed an antitrust case in the District of New Jersey alleging that Sanofi-Aventis violated the antitrust laws by offering a discount program pegged to the percentage of the purchaser’s anti-coagulant drug needs that are fulfilled by Sanofi-Aventis drugs. The complaint alleges that the largest discounts require customers to purchase 90% of their need […]
Salary-Fixing Case Against Oil Companies Dismissed
August 22, 2008 – 4:20 pm
Judge Garrett Brown, District of New Jersey, recently dismissed a group of consolidated cases alleging that oil companies conspired to circulate salary information through trade groups with the effect of suppressing salaries in the industry. The court dismissed for failure to show that the oil industry constituted a relevant market with respect to the types […]
EC Sets Fines for Sodium Chlorate Cartel
August 18, 2008 – 4:18 pm
The EC issue fines totaling €79m on four groups of companies that fixed sodium chlorate prices in the late 1990s and 2000. Two companies escaped fines under the EC’s Leniency Program.
How to Use These Summaries
August 15, 2008 – 11:21 am
The short summaries at each of these links are intended to introduce the subject to the lay person with little or no knowledge of the antitrust laws. The United States Department of Justice, Antitrust Division, includes excellent summaries at various levels of generality on its website. Practicing lawyers will want to review those summaries in […]
Antitrust Remedies
August 15, 2008 – 11:18 am
The U.S. federal antitrust laws may be enforced as both civil and criminal violations. Only the United States Department of Justice has criminal jurisdiction. In general, only hard core, per se violations are prosecuted criminally. The FTC, state governments, and private parties, along with the Department of Justice may assert civil claims. Criminal Penalties Fines: […]