Federal Court in CA Dismisses Price-fixing Claims Against KDW Clients

Kelley Drye obtained a key dismissal for Sakai Chemical Industry Co., Ltd., Sakai Trading New York, Inc., and Sakai Trading Co., Ltd., in a class action lawsuit for their alleged participation with other defendants in a global price-fixing conspiracy involving Magnetic Iron Oxide (“MIO”), the active component in audio and video recording tapes and certain computer storage media. The plaintiffs, six corporations that had purchased MIO either domestically or abroad, alleged in the third amended complaint (the second was dismissed), that the defendants met in Japan to set prices and markets for the sale of MIO.

Judge Hamilton of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, relying on the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Empagran, rejected the plaintiffs’ argument that the alleged price-fixing impacted U.S. competition and dismissed the claims because of the plaintiffs’ failure to state a claim under the Sherman Act.