Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, ANTITRUST—N.D. Cal.: False start: summary judgment attempt too soon in NFL suit, (May 15, 2015)

By Greg Hammond, J.D.

A consumer’s attempt to obtain summary judgment over class action claims the National Football League (NFL) and Reebok International, Ltd. entered into unlawful agreements concerning the NFL’s and its teams’ intellectual property was deemed premature. The federal district court in San Jose denied the consumer’s motion for partial summary judgment, finding the motion procedurally improper prior to class certification under the “one-way intervention” rule (Villa v. San Francisco Forty-Niners, May 13, 2015, Davila, E.).

Background. Consumer Michael Villa filed suit against the NFL, National Football League Properties (NFLP), 30 individual NFL member teams, and Reebok International, Ltd., alleging: (1) a horizontal agreement between the NFL teams, NFLP, and the NFL, in violation of the Cartwright Act; (2) a vertical agreement between the individual NFL team defendants, NFLP, the NFL, and Reebok, in violation of the Cartwright Act; and (3) violations of California’s Unfair Competition Law. The allegedly illegal and anticompetitive agreements related to the licensing of the NFL’s and its teams’ intellectual property for use in apparel intended for the consumer retail market. Villa moved for partial summary judgment.

One-Way Intervention rule. The court denied the motion for partial summary judgment, finding that the motion was made prior to class certification, rendering the bid for summary judgment premature under the one-way intervention rule. Because the court has not yet ruled on whether to certify the proposed class, the motion for partial summary judgment, if unsuccessful, would not prevent putative class members from filing their own suits with hope for a more favorable ruling. The defendants did not waive their right to invoke this doctrine by moving, on two prior occasions, to resolve the case on the merits prior to class certification, the court concluded, because such an interpretation of the one-way intervention rule would be a significantly broader holding than the authorities that established the rules. Further, the defendants did not willing waive protection of the bar against one-way intervention.

The case number is 5:12-CV-05481-EJD.

Attorneys: Ralph B. Kalfayan (Krause Kalfayan Benink & Slavens) for Michael Villa. Sonya Diane Winner (Covington & Burling LLP) for National Football League Properties, Inc. and National Football League. Svetlana Michelle Berman (Latham & Watkins LLP) for Reebok International, Ltd.

Companies: National Football League Properties, Inc.; National Football League; Reebok International, Ltd.

Cases: Antitrust CaliforniaNews