In a brief, unanimous opinion written by Justice Kagan, the Supreme Court yesterday agreed with Monsanto that the patent exhaustion doctrine does not enable farmers to replant and reproduce patented seeds without the patentee’s…more
In Kaewsawang v. Sara Lee Fresh, Inc., Case No. BC360109 (Cal. Los Angeles Superior Ct. May 6, 2013), the trial court dismissed a challenge to Sara Lee’s pricing practices brought under California’s state antitrust law, the…more
It has long been the case that Sherman Act Section 1 Rule of Reason claims as well as Section 2 claims require proof of harm to competition. But the courts, particularly in the Ninth Circuit, have been tightening up on the…more
In Stewart v. Gogo, Inc., 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 51895 (N.D. Cal. Apr. 10, 2013) (Chen, J.), a putative class of airline passengers challenged Gogo’s long-term exclusive contracts to provide Internet access connectivity to…more
Within the past two weeks, the U.S. Supreme Court has decided two important cases relevant to antitrust.
First, on March 27, in Comcast Corp. v. Behrend, No. 11-864, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a U.S. district court…more
In LifeScan, Inc. v. Shasta Technologies, LLC, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 38677 (N.D. Cal. Mar. 19, 2013), Judge Davila granted plaintiff’s motion for a preliminary injunction to address claims of patent infringement, and addressed…more
From today’s New York Times:
Law school applications are headed for a 30-year low, reflecting increased concern over soaring tuition, crushing student debt and diminishing prospects of lucrative employment upon…more
A recent interesting case suggests that “anti-patent trolls” may in theory face antitrust liability. In Cascades Computer Innovation LLC v. RPX Corp., 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10526 (N.D. Cal. Jan. 24, 2013), Judge Yvonne Gonzalez…more
In FTC v. Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Supreme Court No. 12-416), the FTC unsurprisingly filed a merits brief this month again arguing that pay-for-delay (or “reverse payment”) patent settlements are presumptively…more
Antitrust lawsuits spiked by 48% last year, according to an article this week in Law360. This was the first increase since 2008 (the year after the Supreme Court decided Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544 (2007),…more
According to a recent decision by Judge Posner in the Seventh Circuit in In re Sulfuric Acid Antitrust Litigation, the following scenario is not subject to the per se rule against price fixing:
- Companies outside the…more
Much has already been written about the specific terms of the settlement, so I will not attempt duplicate that effort. You can find the actual settlement here (see alert for link). There is some interesting background…more
Here’s a quick summary of the top five blog posts from 2012.
1. American Express Can’t Enforce Arbitration Agreement Antitrust Class Action Waiver. Discussing the Second Circuit case refusing to enforce an American Express…more
On December 7, 2012, the Supreme Court granted certiorari in FTC v. Watson Pharmaceuticals. The Supreme Court is now poised to resolve the circuit split on the treatment of so-called “pay for delay” Hatch-Waxman Act patent…more
Federal Law No. 166 dated 2 October 2012 (the “Law”) amends the existing Law on Pledge and laws on public notaries. On 10 January 2014 a Unified notary information system comes into effect that shall include a Register for…more
