Four Decades for Justice
On October 1, 2021, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York dismissed consolidated antitrust suits brought by the parent company of an electronic stock‑loan trading platform, SL‑x IP S.á.r.l., and its subsidiaries, against Cravath client Morgan Stanley, banks Merrill Lynch, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan and UBS, and EquiLend, a provider of electronic stock lending services.
SL‑x alleged its trading platform would have modernized the stock‑loan industry absent a conspiracy by the defendant banks to boycott SL‑x and instead trade stock loans through EquiLend, which purchased SL‑x’s intellectual property when SL‑x decommissioned its platform. Judge Richard A. Sullivan granted the defendants’ joint motion to dismiss claims brought by parent company SL‑x IP S.á.r.l. for lack of Article III standing because it neither owned the relevant IP nor operated the purportedly boycotted business, and the real parties in interest with standing to litigate the claims—the previously‑dissolved subsidiaries—did not exist at the time of filing suit. The court also dismissed the federal and state antitrust claims brought by the revived subsidiaries after concluding the four‑year statute of limitations applicable for Sherman Act and Donnelly Act claims had expired and the subsidiaries failed to adequately allege the defendants fraudulently concealed the purported conspiracy as necessary to toll the statute of limitations. The court declined to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over the plaintiffs’ remaining state law claims.
The Cravath team was led by partners Daniel Slifkin, Michael A. Paskin, Damaris Hernández and Lauren M. Rosenberg.
The case is SL‑x IP S.Á.R.L. v. Bank of Am. Corp., No. 1:18‑cv‑10179‑RJS (S.D.N.Y.).
Deals & Cases
October 01, 2021
On September 29, 2021, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled in favor of Cravath client Qualcomm Incorporated (“Qualcomm”), vacating a class certification order in Stromberg v. Qualcomm, a class action suit that is related to a prior antitrust suit brought against Qualcomm by the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”), FTC v. Qualcomm. The Stromberg plaintiffs brought antitrust claims against Qualcomm, and the formerly certified class included an estimated 250 million members in the U.S.
Deals & Cases
August 17, 2021
On July 19, 2021, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed the district court’s dismissal of a second consolidated amended class action complaint alleging a violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act as to Cravath client Nomura International plc and several other defendants.
Deals & Cases
April 15, 2021
On April 13, 2021, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed two inter partes review (“IPR”) decisions on remand by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“PTAB”) in favor of Cravath client Alarm.com Incorporated (“Alarm.com”), invalidating additional claims of two patents at issue in litigation brought by Vivint, Inc.
Deals & Cases
March 31, 2021
On March 26, 2021, the United States District Court for the Northern District of California issued a decision affirming the bankruptcy court’s dismissal with prejudice of putative class action litigation related to Cravath client PG&E’s 2019 public safety power shutoff (“PSPS”) events. Appellant Anthony Gantner alleged that PG&E’s October and November 2019 PSPS events were necessitated by PG&E’s alleged historical negligence in maintaining its electrical equipment and sought $2.5 billion in damages for a putative class of California residents and business owners affected by the power shutoffs.
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