Qualcomm Wins Summary Judgment in Putative Antitrust Class Action
September 29, 2023
On September 26, 2023, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California granted summary judgment in favor of Cravath client Qualcomm Incorporated in a putative class action alleging violations of antitrust laws. Originally brought in 2017 on behalf of an alleged nationwide class of mobile device purchaser plaintiffs, the multi-district litigation consolidated numerous complaints against Qualcomm and followed a related Federal Trade Commission action against the company (FTC v. Qualcomm), which also resulted in a complete judgment for Qualcomm on appeal in 2020.
Among other claims, Plaintiffs alleged that Qualcomm, one of the world’s leading cellular technology companies, had entered into unlawful exclusivity agreements with certain mobile device manufacturers. In September 2021, Qualcomm secured a decision before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit which vacated a prior district court ruling certifying a nationwide class of mobile device purchasers in the litigation. The decision directed the district court to reconsider the viability of the Plaintiffs’ claims in light of its judgment in FTC v. Qualcomm. On remand, the district court found that the Plaintiffs had failed to produce any evidence that Qualcomm’s prior agreements had harmed any consumers and had failed to produce any evidence that Qualcomm is currently entering into any anti-competitive agreements.
The Cravath team was led by partners Gary A. Bornstein, Antony L. Ryan and Yonatan Even and included senior attorney Brent Byars.
The case is In re Qualcomm Antitrust Litigation, No. 17-md-02773 (N.D. Cal.).
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