Plaintiff flunks Twombly-Sprewell "two-step," as the court's judicial notice of admissions adduced during preliminary injunction discovery discloses facts the court found to be inconsistent with plaintiff's theory of the case. RealNetworks, Inc. v. DVD Copy Control Ass'n, 2010-1 Trade Cas. (CCH) Para 76,877 (N.D. Cal. 1/6/10).
On January 13, 2010, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reversed a district court’s dismissal of a class action lawsuit accusing the major record companies of conspiring in violation of the antitrust laws to fix the prices for music purchased on the Internet. See Starr v. Sony BMG Music Entertainment, et al., No. 08-5637-cv (2nd Cir., Jan. 13, 2010) (“Starr”). Specifically, applying the heightened pleading standard required by the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544 (2007), the Court found that “[t]he present complaint succeeds where Twombly's failed because the complaint alleges specific facts sufficient to plausibly suggest that the parallel conduct alleged was the result of an agreement among the defendants.” While the precise impact of the pleading standard required by Twombly for antitrust cases remains uncertain, for now, the Starr decision will be one that is carefully studied by attorneys bringing, and defending against, antitrust lawsuits.
On January 13, 2010, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in American Needle v. National Football League, Case No. 08-661, which concerns whether the teams belonging to the National Football League should be treated as a single entity or as 32 independent entities for antitrust purposes. If the former view were to be adopted in this case, the teams in the NFL possibly could enjoy immunity from lawsuits brought under Section 1 of the Sherman Act, which only applies to combinations of two or more entities.
A market share discount engaged in by an alleged monopolist, coupled with a new product innovation that was not compatible with competitor's products, passes Sherman Act scrutiny. Allied Orthopedic v. Tyco Health Care, 08-56314 (9th Cir. January 6, 2010).
In Safeway Inc. v. Abbott Laboratories, 2010 WL 147988 (N.D. Cal. Jan. 12, 2010), Judge Wilkins of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California denied defendant Abbott Laboratories' motion to dismiss predatory pricing and refusal to deal claims set forth in the second amended complaints filed by Direct Purchasers and Abbott's competitor, SmithKline Beecham Corp. ("GSK").
The U.S. Department of Justice has approved the merger of the world's biggest concert promoter and the world's biggest ticket-seller.
Enter keywords:
Add this blog to your feeds or put your e-mail in the box below and hit GO to subscribe by e-mail.