Calling more than half of the plaintiff’s claim “frivolous,” the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit has affirmed a lower court ruling that dismissed nearly $3.5 billion of claims brought by Motorola Mobility, Inc. against Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP client HannStar Display Corp. and other defendants in antitrust litigation involving alleged price-fixing by the world’s largest liquid crystal display, or LCD, manufacturers.
In an opinion written by Judge Richard A. Posner, the three-judge panel unanimously affirmed the ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Joan B. Gottschall without holding oral argument. Judge Gottschall, of the Northern District of Illinois, had certified her ruling for interlocutory appeal to the Seventh Circuit after dismissing 99 percent of Motorola’s claims, holding that under the Foreign Trade Antitrust Improvements Act (“FTAIA”), claims based on purchases by Motorola’s foreign affiliates do not fall under the U.S. antitrust laws. Motorola and its foreign affiliates purchased LCD panels for use in mobile phones.
Initial briefing in the interlocutory appeal had been completed just a couple of weeks ago. In the nine-page opinion, Judge Posner writes that Motorola’s Sherman Act claim regarding more than half of its foreign affiliates’ purchases is “frivolous” and that its claim over another 42 percent of the subsidiaries’ purchases is barred under the FTAIA, leaving a claim for just 1 percent of purchases.
Following Judge Gottschall’s January ruling, the trial scheduled for March 2014 was postponed indefinitely.
The Simpson Thacher team included Jim Kreissman, Buzz Frahn, Jason Bussey, Elizabeth Gillen, Melissa Schmidt, George Brell, Lee Brand, Caitlyn Chacon and Elizabeth White.
See the earlier story about Judge Gottschall’s ruling here.