Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, ANTITRUST NEWS: Panasonic’s appeal of $128.8M fine denied in CRT cartel suit, (Jul 13, 2016)

By Michael Menzhuber, J.D., LL.M.

Panasonic Corporation announced that it has received an order from the European Court of Justice (ECJ) dismissing its appeal of a €128,866,000 fine imposed by the European General Court (EGC) for Panasonic’s participation in cathode ray tubes (CRT) cartels. In response to the dismissal of its appeal, Panasonic has stated that it will pay the €128,866,000 fine.

After an investigation into the cathode ray tube (CRT) sector that began in November of 2007, the European Commission (EC) found that, between 1996 and 2006, seven international groups of companies, including Panasonic, participated in either one or both of two distinct cartels in the CRT sector, including a color picture tubes (CPT) cartel and a color display tubes (CDT) cartel. During this time, cartel members fixed prices, shared markets, allocated customers, and restricted their output.

In December of 2012, the EC imposed fines on Panasonic, as well as the other cartel member companies. In September of 2015, the EGC rendered a judgment reducing the fines imposed by the EC. The EGC imposed fines of €128,866,000 on Panasonic individually, €7,530,000 on Panasonic and its subsidiary, MT Picture Display Co., LTD. (MTPD) jointly and severally, and €82,826,000 on Panasonic, MTPD, and Toshiba Corporation jointly and severally.

Panasonic and MTPD paid €62,747,343, the portion of the fines for which they were jointly and severally liable. Panasonic appealed to the ECJ regarding the fine imposed on it individually. The ECJ dismissed the appeal on July 8, 2016, and the fine of €128,866,000 imposed individually on Panasonic became final.

News: Antitrust