HANDAL & ASSOCIATES FILES AMENDED COMPLAINT IN
ITS NATIONAL CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT ADDING
LG ELECTRONICS AND ADDITIONAL CLAIMS AGAINST SONY CORPORATION, PIONEER CORPORATION, PHILIPS ELECTRONICS AND THE 3C DVD PATENT POOL
Suit Alleges Price Fixing, Unlawful Tying, Group Boycott and Conspiracy to Monopolize in Violation of US Sherman Act Resulting in Higher Prices for DVD Players
SAN DIEGO, CA -December 27, 2004 — Handal & Associates has filed an amendment to its national class action lawsuit against the 3C Patent Group consisting of Sony Corporation (NYSE: SNE) Philips Electronics (NYSE: PHG) and Pioneer Corporation (NYSE: PIO). The amended complaint adds LG Electronics of South Korea (066570.KS) and several new claims related to antitrust activities. LG became the fourth member of the 3C Group in 2002 by adding patents from its portfolio to the 3C DVD Group.
The amended complaint states seven causes of action against the members of the 3C DVD Patent Group including: Price Fixing, Unlawful Tying, Group Boycott and Conspiracy to Monopolize in violation of Sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act; a request for a judicial declaration that the patents in the 3C DVD Patent pool are invalid; and two claims for violations of the California Unfair Competition Law.
“We see these violations of the law as a concerted effort to control the DVD player market resulting in higher prices and fewer products” stated Anton Handal, lead attorney. “It is the consumer that ultimately ends up paying for these unlawful acts and 3C must change its philosophy away from licensing manufacturers.”
The Plaintiffs, Wuxi Multimedia, and Orient Power (Wuxi) Digital Technology Ltd are Chinese based manufactures of DVD products and have been adversely affected by the acts of the 3D Patent Pool. Wuxi Multimedia having been refused a license seeks a Judicial Declaration that all of the patents in the 3C pool are invalid under the doctrine of patent misuse. Orient Power (Wuxi) Digital Technology Ltd, currently a 3C DVD Patent Pool licensee, is seeking a refund, on behalf of itself and all other companies in the class, of all DVD player royalties collected by the 3C DVD group. The Plaintiffs seek a tripling of the damage as allowed under the law.
About Handal & Associates
Handal & Associates specializes in business litigation, class action litigation and investigating and prosecuting business frauds and intellectual property disputes.
