Supreme Court of the United States · Official docket →
Innovation Ventures, LLC, et al. v. U.S. Wholesale Outlet & Distribution, Inc., et al.
Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, No. 21-55397 · judgment December 22, 2023
Before the decision, about 6.1× the 4.1% base rate. The model weighted this up for counsel who has won certiorari before, a Ninth Circuit decision below, and a circuit split argued in the petition, and down for a business respondent.
Questions presented
The Robinson-Patman Act, 15 U.S.C. § 13, prohibits “secondary line” price discrimination, which is “price discrimination that injures competition among” the “customers” of a “discriminating seller[ ]” of a commodity. Volvo Trucks N. Am., Inc. v. Reeder-Simco GMC, Inc., 546 U.S. 164, 176-77 (2006). Below, a fractured panel of the Ninth Circuit created two circuit splits about what a private plaintiff must prove to win such a claim:
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Whether a secondary-line price-discrimination plaintiff must prove that it competes with the allegedly favored firm for sales to the same customers, as four circuits have concluded, or not, as the Ninth Circuit held below.
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Whether a claim of antitrust injury can be defeated by an analysis of consumer behavior showing that the allegedly favored firm and the plaintiff do not compete on price, as the Second Circuit has held, or whether that analysis instead is legally irrelevant to antitrust injury, as the Ninth Circuit held below.
Counsel of record
For petitioner
David C. Frederick
Kellogg, Hansen, Todd, Figel & Frederick, P.L.L.C.
For respondent
Mark Weylin Poe
Gaw Poe LLP
Proceedings
- Oct 07 2024Petition DENIED.
- Jul 24 2024DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 9/30/2024.
- Jul 24 2024Reply of petitioners Innovation Ventures, LLC, et al. filed. (Distributed)
- Jul 08 2024Brief of respondents U.S. Wholesale Outlet & Distribution, Inc., et al. in opposition filed.
- Jun 06 2024Brief amicus curiae of The Retail Litigation Center, Inc. filed.
- May 30 2024Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including July 8, 2024.
- May 29 2024Motion to extend the time to file a response from June 6, 2024 to July 8, 2024, submitted to The Clerk.
- May 07 2024Response Requested. (Due June 6, 2024)
- Apr 30 2024DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 5/16/2024.
- Apr 23 2024Waiver of right of respondent U.S. Wholesale Outlet & Distribution, Inc., et al. to respond filed.
- Apr 05 2024Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due May 9, 2024)
- Mar 14 2024Application (23A838) granted by Justice Kagan extending the time to file until April 5, 2024.
- Mar 11 2024Application (23A838) to extend the time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari from March 21, 2024 to April 5, 2024, submitted to Justice Kagan.