Antitrust in the News

David M. GoldsteinFarmer Brownstein Jaeger & Goldstein LLP In a decision that was recently unsealed, Judge Beth Labson Freeman granted a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss a putative “no poach” class action against LG Electronics and Samsung Electronics. Frost, et al. v. LG Electronics Inc., et al., No. 16-cv-5206-BLF, ECF No. 206 (N.D. Cal. July 9, 2018). Plaintiffs filed separate class actions alleging that LG and Samsung entered into no poach agreements in Korea that affected the practices of their U.S.… Read more

Bethany CaracuzzoPritzker Levine LLP On August 28, 2018, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals in LifeWatch Services, Inc. v. Highmark Inc., et al., case No. 17-1990, 2018 WL 4087882, reversed the Eastern District of Pennsylvania’s dismissal of an antitrust action against a health insurance association and its member insurance plan administrators arising out of their denial of coverage for telemetry monitors. The case was also remanded for further analysis of whether Plaintiff’s claims would still fail under the McCarran-Ferguson Act, which… Read more

Harrison (Buzz) Frahn, Jennifer S. Palmer, Tomi MendelSimpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP In a July 27, 2018 decision, the Ninth Circuit affirmed a ruling rejecting the Sherman Act claims of a group of golf caddies (“Caddies”) who challenged the PGA Tour’s requirement that they wear bibs containing various advertisements during tournaments. Hicks v. PGA Tour, Inc., 2018 WL 3597316 (9th Cir. July 27, 2018). Although bib-wearing has been a long-standing practice in the golf profession, the Caddies argued that the requirement… Read more

Elizabeth T. CastilloCotchett Pitre & McCarthy LLP On August 7, 2018, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California’s dismissal of a complaint alleging that the United States Olympics Committee (Olympic Committee) and USA Track & Field (USATF) engaged in an anticompetitive conspiracy in violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act by imposing advertising and logo restrictions during Olympic Trials of track and field athletes. Reviewing the… Read more

Ian L. Papendick and Dana L. Cook-MilliganWinston & Strawn LLP In Sea Breeze Salt, Inc. v. Mitsubishi Corporation, --- F,3d ----, 2018 WL 3863842 (9th Cir. 2018), the Ninth Circuit affirmed the order of Judge Dolly Gee of the United States District Court for the Central District of California, holding that the act of state doctrine applied to bar antitrust conspiracy claims relating to exclusive distribution contracts concerning Mexican sea salt. The Ninth Circuit held that because defendant ESSA was 51%… Read more

Lesley E. Weaver and Emily C. AldridgeBleichmar Fonti & Auld LLP A recent decision by the Ninth Circuit may have profound implications in antitrust cases involving wholly owned subsidiaries of parent companies accused of participating in an antitrust conspiracy. In Arandell v. CenterPoint Energy Services, -- F.3d ----, No. 16-17099, 2018 WL 3716026 (9th Cir. Aug. 6, 2018) [Arandell], the Ninth Circuit held that under Copperweld Corp. v. Independence Tube Corp., 467 U.S. 752 (1984), a “wholly-owned subsidiary that engaged in coordinated… Read more

Harrison (Buzz) Frahn, Michael R. Morey, Lauren Ditty (Summer Associate)Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP On May 11, 2018, the Ninth Circuit reversed the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington’s dismissal of the Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America’s (the “Chamber’s”) federal antitrust claims against the City of Seattle in Chamber of Commerce of the United States of Am. v. City of Seattle, 890 F.3d 769 (9th Cir. 2018). The suit arose from a recently enacted… Read more

Harrison (Buzz) Frahn, Thomas M. Cramer, Lily Cron (Summer Associate)Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP In an 5-4 opinion authored by Justice Clarence Thomas, the Supreme Court ruled on June 25, 2018, that American Express’s (“Amex”) practice of using anti-steering provisions, which prevent merchants from offering customers incentives to use credit cards with lower fees, is not an “unreasonable restraint on trade” in violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act. The credit-card industry is a two-sided market, meaning that in… Read more

Elizabeth C. PritzkerPritzker Levine LLP On July 25, 2018, Judge Valerie Caproni issued opinions granting motions to dismiss brought by several “Non-Fixing Banks” in two multi-district cases alleging conspiracies to fix the prices of precious metals and futures. The two cases are: (1) In re Commodity Exchange Inc., Gold Futures and Options Trading Litigation, No. 14-MD-2548, 2018 WL 3585276 (SDNY July 25, 2018) (“Gold”), alleging a conspiracy to fix the price of physical gold and gold-denominated financial securities; and (2) In re… Read more

Jeanifer Parsigian Winston & Strawn LLP On June 14, 2018, in a unanimous opinion reversing the Second Circuit, the United States Supreme Court held that U.S. courts are not required to give conclusive effect to a foreign government’s proffered statement of its own law. Animal Sci. Prod., Inc. v. Hebei Welcome Pharm. Co., 138 S. Ct. 1865, 1869 (2018).The opinion resolved a circuit split on the import of views offered by a foreign government on the meaning of its law that emerged… Read more