Antitrust Group

Antitrust Claims Against Postal Service Returned To Sender By Federal Judge

A Colorado federal judge has dismissed class action antitrust claims brought against the United States Postal Service for allegedly forcing post offices to buy mailing labels from a designated vendor. Judge John L. Kane of the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado ruled in TOG Inc. et al. v. United States Postal Service et al. that the claims were barred by the federal statutory immunity that permits...

Federal Court Finds Apple And Publishers Fixed E-Book Prices

Judge Denise Cote of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled on Wednesday that Apple Inc. conspired with five of the “Big Six” publishing houses—Hachette Book Group, Inc., HarperCollins Publishers LLC, Holtzbrinck Publishers LLC d/b/a Macmillan, Penguin Group (USA), Inc., and Simon & Schuster, Inc.—to raise the prices of electronic books (“e-books”) in violation of antitrust...

Europeans Rule Reliance On National Courts And Lawyers Not A Bar To EU Antitrust Liability

The European Court of Justice (“ECJ”) has held that neither a decision from a national antitrust court nor reliance on the advice of counsel protected a company from European Union (“EU”) antitrust liability. The ECJ made its ruling in Bundeswettbewerbsbehörde v. Schenker & Co. and Others, a case dealing with an Austrian freight company that joined 30 other freight companies to form a special interest...

Contractor Alleges Graco Constructed Foam Insulation Equipment Monopoly

A contractor has filed a class action complaint in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania alleging that Graco Inc. and its distributors harmed a class of contractors through anticompetitive conduct in the market for fast-set spray foam equipment, which is used by contractors for the installation of foam insulation in residential and commercial buildings. Insulate SB, Inc., a...

Federal Judge Brings Sky Angel’s Antitrust Claims Against C-SPAN Down To Earth

A federal judge has dismissed claims by Sky Angel U.S. LLC, an internet-based television service, that C-SPAN violated the antitrust laws by favoring traditional cable providers. Although Judge Rudolph Contreras of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia dismissed Sky Angel’s antitrust claims, he also granted the internet television service leave to replead in Sky Angel U.S. LLC v. National Cable...

Federal Court Refuses To Slam On The Brakes In Auto Parts Antitrust Class Action

A group of auto parts manufacturers continues to face claims of bid rigging and price fixing in a multidistrict litigation (“MDL”) following a Michigan federal judge’s refusal to dismiss federal antitrust claims. Direct and indirect purchasers in the putative class action of In re Automotive Parts Antitrust Litigation accuse the manufacturers of conspiring to fix the prices of wire harness systems in...