United States Third Circuit

In a consensus-oriented private standard-setting environment, a patent holder's intentionally false promise to license essential proprietary technology on "fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory" terms, coupled with a standards-determining organization's reliance on that promise when including the technology in a standard, and the patent holder's subsequent breach of that promise, is actionable anticompetitive conduct. In an antitrust action brought against Qualcomm, dismissal of the complaint is reversed in part where the District Court erred in dismissing a monopolization claim on the ground that abuse of a private standard-setting process does not state a claim under antitrust law, and plaintiff's claim successfully pleaded such a cause of action.

Appellate Information

• Argued 06/28/2007
• Decided 09/04/2007
• Published 09/05/2007

Judges

• Before: BARRY, FUENTES, and GARTH, Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States Third Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• George S. Cary, Esq. (Argued), Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP, Washington, DC, and David S. Stone, Esq., Boies, Schiller & Flexner, Short Hills, NJ, for Appellant., Eric L. Cramer, Esq., Berger & Montague, Philadelphia, PA, and David Balto, Esq., Washington, DC, for Amici Curiae American Antitrust Institute and the Consumer Federation of America on Behalf of Neither Party., William S. Feiler, Esq., Morgan & Finnegan, New York, NY, and Liza M. Walsh, Esq., Connell Foley, Roseland, NJ, for Amici Curiae Texas Instruments Inc., Nokia Corp. and Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson on Behalf of Appellant., Federick A. Nicoll, Esq., Dorsey & Whitney, Paramus, NJ, and Michael A. Lindsay, Esq., Dorsey & Whitney, Minneapolis, MN, and Robert A. Skitol, Esq., Drinker Biddle & Reath, Washington, DC, and Andrew Updegrove, Esq., Gesmer Updegrove, Boston, MA, for Amici Curiae The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc., VITA, OASIS Open (Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards), The Open Group, and PCI Industrial Computer Manufacturers Group on Behalf of Neither Party.


• For Appellees:
  
• Evan R. Chesler, Esq. (Argued), Richard J. Stark, Esq., Cravath, Swaine & Moore, New York, NY, and William J. O'Shaughnessy, Esq., McCarter & English, Newark, NJ, for Appellee.