Antitrust Group

Federal Judge Takes Scalpel To $200 Million Wound Closure Antitrust Suit

Kansas Federal Judge Richard D. Rogers has taken a scalpel to claims of monopolization, predatory pricing and unjust enrichment in the sale of wound closure products – but given a clean bill of health to claims of tying, exclusive dealing and state-law restraint of trade – in Suture Express Inc. v. Cardinal Health Inc. et al., a $200 million antitrust suit. Suture Express, a suture and endomechanical product...

Drug Data Companies Face Off In Antitrust Suit

Symphony Health Solutions Corp. has filed an antitrust complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania alleging that competitor IMS Health Inc. is snuffing out competition in markets for pharmaceutical data products. According to the complaint in Symphony Health Solutions Corp. v. IMS Health Inc., IMS, the world's largest supplier of pharmaceutical and health care industry-related data...

Ninth Circuit Rejects Extending Buyer Liability For Price Discrimination

An effort to extend buyer liability for price discrimination was rejected by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in its affirmance of the dismissal of price discrimination and vertical restraint of trade claims made by car parts dealer Gorlick Distribution Centers LLC against its competitor Allied Exhaust Systems Inc. The appellate court affirmed summary judgment in favor of Allied on the...

British Competition Regulators Tell Companies To Open Their Arms To New Auditors

The U.K.’s Competition Commission is proposing regulations designed to promote competition among auditors of major companies and to ensure that auditors are satisfying the demands of shareholders. The Competition Commission’s provisional decision seeks to remedy the lack of competition among auditors that serve large British companies.  This problem would be addressed by a requirement that companies open up...

Eleventh Circuit Rules Steel Is Too Elastic To Support Monopolization Claims

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit has affirmed dismissal of monopolization claims against steel producer Nucor Corp., finding that the cross-elasticity of supply for various steel products defeated the limited product market alleged by the plaintiff. The appellate court affirmed the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of Nucor in Gulf States Reorganization Group Inc. v. Nucor...

Car Dealers Hit Japanese Auto Parts Supplier With Antitrust Class Action

Several car dealerships have filed an antitrust class action against four Japanese automobile parts suppliers for allegedly rigging bids for lighting equipment sold to major car companies. Mitsuba Corp., Koito Manufacturing Co. Ltd., Ichikoh Industries Ltd. and Stanley Electric Co. are being sued in the putative class action of Martens Cars of Washington Inc. et al. v. Koito Manufacturing Co. Ltd. et al., which the...

UK Leniency Guidelines Eliminate Demands For Waiver Of Attorney-Client Privilege

The Office of Fair Trading (“OFT”) in the United Kingdom has released updated guidelines for leniency in cartel cases that will eliminate demands for waivers of the attorney-client privilege as a condition of leniency. The leniency guidelines will fine-tune the UK’s framework for leniency applications, which the OFT views as essential to the UK’s enforcement efforts against cartels.  Under the leniency...