Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, ANTITRUST—N.D. Cal.: Class notice approved in direct purchasers’ settlement of optical disk drive price fixing suit, (Mar 4, 2015)

By Linda O’Brien, J.D., LL.M.

In a consolidated class action against manufacturers of optical disk drives for conspiring to fix prices, the federal district court in San Francisco has approved the notice to class and proof of claim form and has set the hearing for attorney fees, costs, and incentive awards following partial settlements (In re Optical Disk Drive Antitrust Litigation, March 2, 2015, Seeborg, R.).

Direct purchasers of electronic products filed class action complaints against Hitachi, LG, Panasonic, NEC Corporation and other electronic product manufacturers, alleging that the manufacturers engaged in a conspiracy to rig bids and fix prices for optical disk drives (ODDs) that are included in various electronic devices. Some of the defendants in the litigation have settled their claims: Hitachi and LG Electronics for $26 million; Panasonic for $5.75 million; and NEC Corporation for $6 million.

The court found that the proposed notice to the class regarding the allocation of the settlements totaling over $37 million and the proof of claim form were appropriate. To provide certainty, class members were given until June 22 to submit their claim forms to the claims administration. At that time, the claims administrator will verify the claim submissions and final distribution amounts of the settlement fund to class members will be determined. Finally, a hearing on the plaintiffs’ motion for attorneys’ fees, reimbursement of expenses, and class representative incentive awards was set for May 14.

The case is No. 3:10-cv-02143-RS.

Attorneys: Dianne M. Nast (NastLaw LLC) for CMP Consulting Services, Inc., KI, Inc., Lieff, Cabraser, Heimann & Bernstein, LLP, and Univisions-Crimson Holding Inc. David Paul Germaine (Vanek Vickers & Masini PC) for JLK Systems Group, Inc. John F. Cove, Jr. (Boies Schiller & Flexner LLP) for Sony Corp., and Sony Optiarc, Inc. Ameri Rose Klafeta (Eimer Stahl LLP) for LG Electronics, Inc. Anthony C. Biagioli (Ropes & Gray LLP) for Hitachi-LG Data Storage, Inc. Casandra Leann Thomson (Latham & Watkins) for Toshiba Corp.

Companies: CMP Consulting Services, Inc.; KI, Inc.; Lieff, Cabraser, Heimann & Bernstein, LLP; Univisions-Crimson Holding Inc.; JLK Systems Group, Inc.; Sony Corp.; Sony Optiarc, Inc.; LG Electronics, Inc.; Hitachi-LG Data Storage, Inc.; Toshiba Corp.

Cases: Antitrust CaliforniaNews