Class actions and antitrust

Following on from the post earlier this week about the findings that AstraZeneca had misused its market power in the EU over Losec, the Full Federal Court in Australia (Moore, Jessup and Dodds-Streeton JJ) has largely upheld an appeal against the primary Judge’s decision to strike out a Statement of Claim.

Unlike the AstraZeneca case, this case does not involve allegations of misuse of market power relating to a patented product; it concerns allegations about a price-fixing cartel for rubber compounds.

One interesting aspect about the case is that the litigation in Australia derives from a European Commission finding that Bayer AG and others had engaged in a global price fixing cartel for the rubber compounds. The applicants in this case allege that that cartel had ramifications in Australia causing them damage.

Another interesting aspect is that the applicants are bringing a class action to recover damages for the impact of the alleged cartel in Australia. In the IP field, we have recently seen the class action mechanism deployed to challenge the validity of patenting genes. Incidentally, the applicants’ solicitors in that case are the same as the applicants’ solicitors in this action.

Wright Rubber Products Pty Ltd v Bayer AG [2010] FCAFC 85

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