Antitrust Engagements

• Air Cargo Antitrust Investigation - Represented Korean national in Department of Justice criminal investigation (Antitrust Division) regarding alleged collusion in the airline industry in violation of the Sherman Act, Section 1. Successfully navigated client through investigation resulting in DOJ decision not to prosecute.

• Cement Antitrust Litigation - Served as co-lead trial counsel for the nationwide class of cement purchasers alleging price fixing in cement. The case was successfully settled for $70 million.

• Continental Airlines Inc. v. American Airlines, Inc. - Served as counsel for Northwest Airlines in a predatory pricing antitrust action against American Airlines. This case was filed in the Southern District of Texas.

• DRAM Antitrust Investigation - Represented Korean national in criminal Department of Justice prosecution (Antitrust Division) for violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act, Section 1, through participation in alleged conspiracy to fix prices for DRAM semiconductors sold in the United States.

• Digital Instruments v. Topometrix - Represented Topometrix in defending claims of patent infringement and asserted Walker-Process antitrust counterclaims in litigation involving two of the leading manufacturers of atomic force microscopes.  We obtained a favorable settlement for our client.

• Dolby Laboratories v. Smart Devices, Inc. - Represented Dolby in a suit for trademark infringement, unfair competition and false advertising to enforce Dolby’s intellectual property rights related to one of its latest sound innovations – SURROUND EX. The case was filed in the Central District of California and resulted in a favorable settlement for our client.

• Dumas et al. v. The Upper Deck Company et al. - Defended an unfair competition class action brought in federal court in San Diego against a distributor of sports trading cards arising from its marketing and advertising practices.

• Fernandes et al. v. Prolong Super Lubricants, Inc. et al. - Defended four consumer class actions filed in California, Texas and Illinois against the manufacturer of motor oil additive products arising from the labeling, advertising and sale of those products nationwide.

• Gypsum Antitrust Litigation - Served as co-counsel for the plaintiff wholesaler-dealer class of gypsum purchasers alleging price fixing. This case was filed in the Northern District of California.

• In re Pacific Sea-Land Antitrust Litigation - Served as court-appointed (federal court) special master to oversee novel discovery disputes in predatory pricing action under the Sherman Act.

• Inter-Continental Hotels Corporation v. California Hotel Acquisition Corporation, et al. -Represented Inter-Continental Hotels Corporation and Bass Hotels and Resorts in various actions pending in federal and state courts in Los Angeles as well as the Ninth Circuit arising out of the termination of Inter-Continental's management agreement for the Hotel Inter-Continental Los Angeles.  The case involved breach of contract, tort and unfair competition claims.

• LCD Antitrust Investigation - Representing Japanese national in Department of Justice criminal investigation (Antitrust Division) regarding alleged price fixing in violation of the Sherman Act, Section 1.

• Marsann v. Brammall - Defense of an action alleging monopolization, conspiracy, predatory pricing and unfair trade practices in the steel roll straightening industry. This case was settled after an appeal to the Ninth Circuit on the issue of antitrust injury. This case was filed in the Northern District of California.

• Microsoft Antitrust Litigation - One of our partners was appointed to be the Special Master for the consumer class action and competitor class action lawsuits filed against Microsoft for its alleged antitrust violations, including the use of technological developments to stifle competition. The consolidated case was pending in the District Court in Baltimore, Maryland.

• Military Restraints Antitrust Investigation - Represented client in Department of Justice Antitrust investigation regarding alleged kickbacks in government contracting for military restraint equipment.

• Pacific Sun Publishing Co., Inc. v. The Chronicle - Represented the merged San Francisco Examiner and San Francisco Chronicle newspapers in an antitrust suit alleging that the merger violated the Newspaper Preservation Act of 1970. We succeeded in securing a defense verdict at trial.

• Pan Pacific Cable Television v. PacificUnion - Served as defense counsel in this action in the Northern District of California alleging monopolization and unfair competition in the distribution of cable television services. Summary judgment was entered against all claims and plaintiff's counsel was ordered, pursuant to Rule11, to pay all attorneys' fees, costs and expenses for defense of plaintiff's frivolous claims.

• Plywood Antitrust Litigation - Won a jury verdict for the plaintiff class in the amount of approximately $2 billion in a trial representing all purchasers of plywood in the U.S. and successfully defended the verdict on appeal in the Fifth Circuit arguing against Robert Bork. The case was ultimately settled for $168 million while pending before the U.S. Supreme Court. Reported at 655 F.2d 627 (5th Cir. 1981).

• PostX v. Sigaba - Represented Sigaba in two separate patent infringement actions asserting that Sigaba's e-mail encryption technology infringed two of the plaintiff's patents.  Obtained orders granting summary judgment of non-infringement on two separate patents prior to any claims construction hearings; these were affirmed by the Federal Circuit. Asserted antitrust counterclaims alleging that the plaintiff made bad faith infringement accusations in the marketplace under PREI.

• SRAM Antitrust Investigation - Represented executive of United States semiconductor company in Department of Justice criminal investigation (Antitrust Division) regarding alleged price fixing in violation of the Sherman Act, Section 1.

• Safeway v. National Union - Served as counsel for Safeway in an action against numerous insurance companies alleging conspiracy to limit and exclude pollution coverage from CGL policies.

• Smith's Action Plastics v. GTE Corporation - Defended GTE Corporation in this state court antitrust action involving bidding rights for pipeline materials used in the transmission of telephone data.

• State of Hawaii v. BHP Properties - Defended BHP Properties in a horizontal price fixing case brought by the Hawaii attorney general against major oil companies. We obtained a favorable settlement.

• T.V. Views, Inc. v. Salinas Newspapers, Inc. - Represented Gannett Co., Inc. and its subsidiary, Salinas Newspapers, Inc. in defending antitrust and unfair competition claims brought by a competitor.

Antitrust and Unfair Competition

• American Booksellers Association v. Barnes & Noble, et al. - We represented plaintiffs at trial in action alleging violations of Robinson-Patman Act and state unfair competition statutes. 

• Conroy, et al. v. Staples, Inc., et al. - This consumer antitrust class action was brought in the United States District Court naming our client Staples, Inc. as a purported defendant class representative of all retailers who sold 3M Corporation transparent tape in the United States.  Plaintiffs alleged that Staples, Inc. along with similarly situated retailers conspired with 3M Corporation to fix the prices of 3M transparent tape products and to exclude competitors.  We successfully obtained early summary judgment in favor of Staples, Inc.

• Crane v. Bell Helicopter Textron, Inc. – Obtained a complete defense jury verdict on behalf of Bell Helicopter Textron, Inc. in an action brought by Crane Helicopter Services. Crane asserted claims against Bell for defamation, trade libel, negligence, fraud, and unfair competition. Crane's last settlement demand before trial was $10 million. The case was tried in the Eastern District of California.

• Dorough v. Rite Aid Corporation, et al. - Defended a consumer class action filed in the Central District of California against a major retail pharmacy chain arising from its prescription medicine pricing practices.

• Manasen v. California Dental Service - Served as class counsel for a plaintiff class of all dentists in the State of California in this antitrust class action alleging price fixing of dental fees and insurance coverage.  The action was dismissed pursuant to the McCarran-Ferguson Act; the dismissal was reversed on appeal to the Ninth Circuit, and the action was subsequently settled.

• Stafursky et al. v. Internet Success Systems et al. - Defended a nationwide leasing company in a class action alleging deceptive marketing practices, including violations of the Unfair Competition Law, the False Advertising Law, the Consumer Legal Remedies Act, and common law fraud and unjust enrichment.  We derailed the plaintiffs' case at the outset of the litigation by obtaining a trial court order staying all claims against our client based on a forum selection clause that required the plaintiffs to bring their claims in another state.  We then successfully settled the matter on favorable terms. 

• Union of Needletrades v. The Gap, et al. - Represented The Limited, Lane Bryant, and Abercrombie and Fitch in parallel actions in Hawaii federal court and California state court containing class alleging unfair competition claims under a variety of state and federal statutes.

Appellate Litigation

• Sessions Tank Liners v. Joor Manufacturing - Served as co-counsel on appeal overturning an adverse ruling in favor of plaintiff in an antitrust action involving the Noerr-Pennington doctrine..

Life Sciences

• Chiron v. Hoffman-LaRoche - Represented Chiron Corporation as a plaintiff in this patent infringement action in the Northern District of California. The case involved the patent for a vaccine for the Hepatitis C virus, as well as antitrust counterclaims.

Software Performance

• Sabre v. ARC – Represented Sabre Inc. in claims against the Airlines Reporting Corporation for unauthorized use of data compiled by the Sabre Computerized Reservation System

• Sabre v. American Airlines – Represented Sabre Inc. in a court case and related arbitration over American Airlines' refusal to make all of its air fares available in the Sabre Computerized Reservation System.  The case settled with an agreement that, among other things, provided Sabre with its desired access to American's web fares.

• Sabre v. Northwest Airlines - Represented Sabre, the owner of the largest Global Distribution System in the world, in several cases against Northwest Airlines that were triggered by Northwest's announced $7.50 surcharge/fare increase imposed on tickets issued by travel agent's who use the Sabre GDS. Dueling suits were filed by Sabre in Texas and Northwest in Minnesota, alleging breach of contract. Northwest has added antitrust and related tort claims. We were successful in securing Sabre's chosen venue in Fort Worth, and Northwest's action was transferred and consolidated with Sabre's action there. We have also represented Sabre in a breach of contract/ unjust enrichment dispute over ownership of passenger reservation information, and in several major arbitrations