Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, ANTITRUST—NDCal: $17.5 Million Settlement of Price Fixing Claims Against Cathode Ray Tube Manufacturer Approved, (Jan 3, 2013)

By E. Darius Sturmer, J.D.

The federal district court in San Francisco has granted final approval to proposed settlements of price fixing claims brought against Panasonic Corporation, two related companies, and Beijing Matsushita Color CRT Co., Ltd. by a class of direct purchasers of cathode ray tubes made by the defendants that were ultimately incorporated into finished products like television sets and computer monitors (In re: Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) Antitrust Litigation, December 27, 2012, Conti, S.)

The settlements, which were preliminarily approved last July, require Panasonic to pay $17.5 million into a settlement fund and all four of the defending entities to cooperate with the plaintiffs’ information requests associated with their ongoing claims against other manufacturers.

For purposes of the settlement, a plaintiff class consisting of all persons and entities who directly purchased a CRT product in the United States from the defendants or their affiliates or subsidiaries between March 1995 and November 25, 2007, was certified by the court. The class excluded the defendants and related corporate entities, co-conspirators, governmental entities, and any judges assigned to oversee any part of the suit. The notice given to the class of the settlement was approved, and lead counsel was appointed for the class.

As noted, the settlements do not conclude the multidistrict litigation. Though co-defendants Tatung, LG Electronics, Philips, and Chungwa also agreed to settle the direct purchasers’ claims last year, the suit continues to be contested by numerous other CRT manufacturers, and scarcely more than a month ago, a group of electronics retailers was found to possess standing—despite their indirect purchaser status—to assert price fixing claims against many of the same manufacturers.

The case is Master File No. CV-07-5944-SC, MDL No. 1917.

Bruce Lee Simon (Pearson, Simon, Warshaw & Penny, LLP) for plaintiff Crago, Inc. Joel Steven Sanders (Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP) for defendant Chungwa Picture Tubes LTD.

Cases: Antitrust CaliforniaNews