News & Events

On November 17, 2008, the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts dismissed with prejudice a putative class action complaint filed against Staples, Inc., represented by the Firm, and Hewlett-Packard Company. Plaintiff, on behalf of all purchasers of HP-compatible ink cartridges, alleged Staples and HP entered into an agreement in per se violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act. Staples and HP entered into a Strategic Enterprise Alliance Agreement, pursuant to which, Staples no longer sells Staples-branded HP-compatible ink cartridges in its retail stores. Plaintiff alleged that this agreement should be condemned as a per se illegal horizontal market allocation. The Court rejected Plaintiff's argument holding that per se treatment was not appropriate because the agreement "falls within the category of 'restraints imposed on the context of business relationships where the economic impact of certain practices is not immediately obvious.'" This is a case of first impression and has significant repercussions for all retailers with their own brands in apparent competition with products from other suppliers distributed by the same retailer.

The Simpson Thacher team consists of Kevin Arquit, Arman Oruc, Hillary Mintz, Maco Stewart and Conor Reidy, with valuable assistance from paralegals Bill Van Opstal and Anne Alfano.