Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, ANTITRUST NEWS: Contact lens makers allegedly saw eye-to-eye on minimum resale prices, (May 12, 2015)

By Greg Hammond, J.D.

A California consumer has filed suit against contact lens manufacturers Cooper Vision, Inc., Alcon Laboratories, Inc., Bausch + Lomb, and Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc., alleging that the companies conspired to impose minimum resale prices on certain contact lens lines, which effectively eliminated price competition in violation of the Sherman Act, California’s Cartwright Act, and California’s Unfair Competition Law (UCL). The complaint was filed in the federal district court in San Francisco (Parker v. Cooper Vision, Inc., May 11, 2015).

Marcia Parker brought suit on behalf of herself and a class consisting of all individuals and entities that purchased disposable contact lenses manufactured by defendants from June 1, 2013, to the present, where the prices for such contact lenses were set pursuant to a “Unilateral Pricing Policy.

Parker claims that the defendant manufacturers conspired with a wholesaler and independent eye care professionals to impose minimum resale prices on contact lenses. This “unilateral pricing policy” allegedly eliminated price competition from contact lens retailers—including Wal-Mart, Meijer, Costco, 1-800-Contacts, and LensDiscounters.com—by substantially preventing them from discounting certain contact lenses. The manufacturers additionally threatened to curtail the supply of some of their contact lens lines to retailers that sold below the mandated price. “This draconian change in the pricing model would not have occurred in the absence of a conspiracy among the Defendants,” Parker asserts.

Count I of the complaint alleges that the defendants violated Section 1 of the Sherman Act by conspiring to implement minimum resale pricing policies in concert with one another, in unreasonable restraint of trade. As a result of the defendants’ conduct, Parker asserts that prices for contact lenses, subject to unilateral pricing policies were raised, fixed, maintained, and stabilized in the United States, the relevant geographic market. Further, Parker and class members were purportedly injured in their business and property because they paid more for contact lenses than they otherwise would have paid in the absence of the conduct complained of.

Similarly, Count II asserts a claim for violation of the California Cartwright Act and Count III sets forth a claim for violation of California’s UCL. Parker alleges that the defendants violated both the “unfair” and “unlawful” prongs of the UCL. She seeks actual damages, trebled damages, restitutionary relief, permanent injunction, pre-judgment and post-judgment interest, attorney fees, and costs.

The case is No. 3:15-cv-02129-EDL.

Attorneys: Christopher T. Micheletti (Zelle Hofmann Voelbel & Mason LLP) for Marcia Parker.

Companies: Cooper Vision, Inc.; Alcon Laboratories, Inc.; Bausch + Lomb; Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc.; ABB Optical Group

News: Antitrust