The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California dismissed with prejudice an amended action accusing Apple, Inc., of antitrust violations regarding an update to its iTunes media player software that prevented removal of encryption codes from music files sold through the iTunes store. Dr. Michelle Burtis, a vice president of Cornerstone Research, had assessed the economic basis for certifying a putative class of indirect purchasers of iPod and iTunes products requested in the original complaint, and the court denied class certification.
Stacie Somers v. Apple, Inc.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently refused to hear an appeal by the plaintiffs in an antitrust suit against Samsung, Toshiba, and others alleging that the defendants conspired to sell NAND flash memory to direct purchasers at artificially inflated prices and that overcharges in turn were passed through to indirect purchasers. Dr. Michael Keeley, a senior vice president of Cornerstone Research, and Dr. Michelle Burtis, a vice president of Cornerstone Research, analyzed whether common evidence could be used to prove impact in damages in the direct and indirect actions brought before the district court. The lower court refused to certify the indirect class, and the plaintiffs withdrew the direct purchaser complaint.
In re Flash Memory Antitrust Litigation