Antitrust in the News

On November 6, 2018, Judge Lucy H. Koh of the Northern District of California granted the FTC’s motion for partial summary judgment in its ongoing litigation against Qualcomm. Read more

In the capacitor private class action litigation, U.S. District Judge James Donato agreed to certify a class of plaintiffs led by four distribution companies that purchased capacitors from mostly Asia-based electronics companies. Read more

Iowa Public Employees’ Ret. System v. Merrill Lynch, et al., Case No. 17-cv-6221, 2018 WL 4636993 *1-*3 (S.D.N.Y. Sept. 27, 2018) (“Iowa Public Employees’”) is a class action brought by plaintiff investors who paid borrowing fees in connection with securities lending services financial firms who are the leading providers of securities lending services (the “Prime Broker Defendants”) as part of stock loan transactions. Read more

On November 13, 2018, the district court in Yi v. SK Bakeries LLC et al., No. 3:18-cv-05627 (W.D. Wash.) denied Defendants Cinnabon Franchisor SPV LLC (“Cinnabon”) and SK Bakeries, LLC (“SK”)’s motions to dismiss a complaint alleging Defendants violated the Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C. 1, et. seq., and Washington’s Unfair Business Practices Act, RCW 19.86, et seq., by entering into a franchise agreement that included a no-hire and non-solicitation provision until July 12, 2018. Read more

Jan. 1, 2020, marks the effective date of the recently enacted California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), a new law that requires companies to comply with numerous requirements related to collecting and processing personal information of California consumers, employees, and other individuals. Read more

Harrison (Buzz) FrahnMarissa LambertKourtney Kinsel In October 2016, two of brewing’s biggest names headlined a $107 billion merger, attracting the attention of the DOJ and zythophiles, aka beer lovers, alike. By the time the merger cleared DOJ review, Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV (“ABI”) had combined with SABMiller, plc (“SAB”), divesting SAB’s U.S.-based interest in the process. See DeHoog v. Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV, 899 F.3d 758, 761–62 (9th Cir. 2018). A “bevy of beer aficionados” challenged the acquisition under Section 7 of the… Read more

Ian L. PapendickJeanifer E. ParsigianAmanda JereigeWinston & Strawn LLP In NorthBay Healthcare Group v. Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc., the Northern District of California recently dismissed without leave to amend the plaintiffs’ antitrust claims based on monopolization and conspiracy-to-monopolize theories under Section 2 of the Sherman Act. No. 17-cv-05005-LB, 2018 WL 4096399 at *1 (N.D. Cal. Aug. 28, 2018). The dismissal was with prejudice because the Court had dismissed with leave to amend twice before, and thus any further amendment would… Read more

Robert E. ConnollyLaw Office of Robert E. Connolly On October 11, 2018, Judge Michael Baylson of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania denied a renewed summary judgment motion by a defendant in the wallboard class action price fixing litigation. The defendant, PABCO, moved the Court to reconsider and reverse an earlier denial of summary judgment based on the recent Third Circuit opinion in Valspar Corporation v. DuPont, 873 F. 3d 185 (3d Cir. 2017). Valspar affirmed a district court ruling that dismissed… Read more

Alex OhanianLegal Intern, Federal Trade Commission The Securities and Exchange Commission instituted cease and desist proceedings against Voya Financial Advisors, citing violations of the Safeguards Rule, and the Identity Theft Red Flags Rule. The proceedings constitute the first SEC enforcement action charging violations of the Identity Theft Red Flags Rule. Voya Financial Advisors is an investment advisor offers a wide range of products and services. Voya sells its products through a national network of independent contractor representatives. The Safeguards Rule… Read more

Mallory JensenO’Melveny & Myers LLP In Naperville Smart Meter Awareness v. City of Naperville, the Seventh Circuit affirmed the order of Judge John Z. Lee of the Northern District of Illinois (Eastern Division), denying a consumer privacy rights organization leave to amend their complaint against the city of Naperville, Illinois for engaging in an allegedly unreasonable search and seizure of its residents’ private data in the form of electric meter monitoring. 900 F.3d 521 (2018). The Seventh Circuit concluded that while… Read more