Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment on Foreign Commerce Denied in Hard Disk Drive Suspension Assemblies Antitrust Litigation
On May 22, 2023, Judge Chesney denied in full Defendants NHK’s and TDK’s Motion for Partial Summary Judgment Regarding Foreign Commerce, which sought dismissal of nearly all of the Class Plaintiffs’ claims, based on the Foreign Trade Antitrust Improvements Act (“FTAIA”), the dormant Commerce Clause and a number of the state statutes pursuant to which Plaintiffs sought damages. Defendants argued that Class Plaintiffs’ claims were barred because the Suspension Assemblies at issue were initially sold abroad and not shipped to the U.S. by Defendants, and thus constituted foreign commerce. Defendants also argued that the state laws under which Class Plaintiffs sought damages did not extend to the sales of Defendants’ Suspension Assemblies, or conduct outside of those particular states. The Court rejected these arguments finding that Plaintiffs’ claims were not barred under the FTAIA, and were cognizable under the state laws.