Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, ANTITRUST—N.D. Cal.: Preliminary approval granted to settlement of optical disk drive bid rigging claims against Panasonic, (Nov 5, 2013)

By Tobias J. Gillett, J.D., LL.M.

The federal district court in San Francisco has granted preliminary approval to a settlement of claims against electronics manufacturer Panasonic over its alleged conspiracy with other optical disk drive (ODD) manufacturers to rig bids and fix prices for the drives (In re Optical Disk Drive Antitrust Litigation, November 1, 2013, Seeborg, R.). The court also certified a class of direct purchasers of the drives.

According to the purchasers’ complaints, Panasonic Corporation and Panasonic Corporation of North America participated in a conspiracy with other ODD manufacturers to rig bids for procurement of ODDs for inclusion in various electronic devices. The court granted the direct purchasers’ motion for preliminary approval of the settlement, finding that the settlement fell within the range of possible final approval and that there was a sufficient basis for notifying the settlement class and for setting a fairness hearing.

The court certified a class of “All individuals and entities who, during the period from January 1, 2004 until at least January 1, 2012 purchased one or more Optical Disk Drives in the United States directly from the Defendants, their subsidiaries, or their affiliates,” except for government entities and parents, subsidiaries, and affiliate s of the defendants. The court further found for settlement purposes that the requirements of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23 were met.

The court appointed the law firm of Saveri & Saveri, Inc. to serve as the class counsel. The court also approved the long form and short form notices of the settlement, finding that sending the long form notice through mail or e-mail, publishing the short form notice, and posting the long form notice on the Internet would serve as appropriate notice. The court ordered the sending of direct notice of the settlement on or before a date 42 days from the entry of the order, publication of the short form notice in the national edition of the Wall Street Journal on or before a date 46 days from entry of the order, and posting of the class notices and settlement agreement on the website “www.odddirectpurchaserantitrustsettlement.com” on or before a date 42 days from entry of the order.

Class members seeking exclusion from the settlement class must mail a request for exclusion to the claims administrator no later than a date at least 45 days after mailing of the direct notice.

The court scheduled the Fairness Hearing on the settlement for March 27, 2014 at 1:30 p.m. All briefs, memoranda, and papers in support of final approval of the settlement must be filed no later than 21 days before the hearing. The court stayed all further direct purchaser class proceedings as to Panasonic Corporation and Panasonic Corporation of North America except to the extent necessary to effectuate the settlements.

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

Attorneys: Guido Saveri (Saveri & Saveri, Inc.) for Direct Purchaser Plaintiffs.

Companies: Panasonic Corp.

Cases: Antitrust CaliforniaNews