Antitrust Group

$20 Million Settlement Domino Falls In High-Tech Employee Antitrust Litigation, With More On The Brink

By David Golden The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California has granted the motion of plaintiffs in In Re: High-Tech Employee Antitrust Litigation for final approval of class action settlements with Pixar, Lucasfilm, and Intuit for $20 million. The court’s final approval of these settlements follows the recent announcement of another, much larger, proposed settlement in the same lawsuit...

European Commissioner Rebuffs German CEO’s Criticisms Of Google Search Engine Settlement

A View from Constantine Cannon’s London Office By Michael Petrides The European Commission’s Competition Commissioner, Joaquin Almunia, is strongly defending the EC from charges that its proposed settlement with Google concerning search engine practices would permit Google to expand its dominant market position. Commissioner Alumina’s defense of the proposed settlement joins a debate with Matthias...

Two Calls Go Against The NCAA In Student-Athletes’ Name and Likeness Litigation

By David Scupp The NCAA was on the losing end of two orders entered this week in the In re NCAA Student Athlete Name & Likeness Licensing Litigation. The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California denied the NCAA’s motion for leave to file a motion for partial reconsideration of the court’s order denying the NCAA’s motion for summary judgment on antitrust claims of current and former...

DOJ And FTC Will Discuss Whether Bundled Discounts Are A Bundle Of Antitrust Trouble Or A Bundle Of Joy For Consumers

By Ankur Kapoor[1] The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) and the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice will attempt to unravel the antitrust pros and cons of bundled discounts and other conditional-pricing practices in a one-day public workshop on June 23, 2014. Bundled discounts, which are discounts offered for the purchase of a “bundle” of goods or services, exist in many markets.  The...

The NBA Constitution Might Well Block Donald Sterling From Challenging A Forced Sale Of His Clippers In Court

By Jeffery I. Shinder and David Scupp Donald Sterling is going to find the NBA constitution a major roadblock if he attempts to fight in court the NBA’s decision to seek his ouster as owner of the Los Angeles Clippers. Yesterday, we analyzed the antitrust implications of the NBA’s decision to respond forcefully to Sterling’s recently reported offensive and racially charged comments.  In addition to...

Can The NBA Force A Sale Of Sterling's Clippers Without Running Afoul Of The Antitrust Laws?

By Jeffery I. Shinder and David Scupp

We applaud the NBA for the firm stance it took against racism, which we believe should have no place in our country.  Having said that, we note that some have suggested that Donald Sterling may file an antitrust lawsuit to maintain his grip on the Clippers, or to gain some leverage to get full value for the team in a forced sale.  Notwithstanding our views on his conduct, we...

Tech Heavyweights Settle Wage-Fixing Fight For $324 Million

By David Golden Google, Apple, Adobe Systems, and Intel have settled an antitrust class action lawsuit brought by software engineers in the high tech industry for a reported $324 million. The lawsuit, In re High-Tech Employee Antitrust Litigation, alleged that the four companies (along with Intuit, Pixar, and Lucasfilm) agreed to refrain from “poaching” each other’s employees, a common practice in...