In re Payment Card Interchange Fee and Merchant Discount Antitrust Litigation, No. 17-MD-02773-LHK, MDL No. 1720
What is it About?
In 2017, the FTC sued Qualcomm in the Northern District of California alleging violations of the Federal Trade Commission Act. Subsequently, a number of follow-on lawsuits were filed by consumers, alleging violations of state and federal antitrust and consumer protection laws. The central claim is that Qualcomm misused its standard essential patents and modem chips monopoly, harming competition and causing consumers to overpay for cell phones.
What Products are Included?
The cellular phones involved in this litigation include phones with CDMA and LTE technologies. This includes cellular phones manufactured and sold by companies such as Apple, Samsung, LG, Motorola, and ZTE. A list of all models included in is available at here.
What is the Status?
This case has not settled. It is currently on appeal. At this time no more likely to settle than not.
On September 27, 2018, the District Court determined that this case could proceed as a class action. In January 2019, Qualcomm appealed that order, effectively staying all litigation in the District Court.
In March 2020, the Court of Appeals indicated that it may wait to decide the appeal because of an important issue of law that is being considered in a different but related appeal. Depending on how the related appeal is decided, the consumer class action may not be allowed to proceed.
Who is Eligible?
All persons and entities in the United States who purchased, paid for, and/or provided reimbursement for some or all of the purchase price for all UMTS, CDMA (including CDMAone and cdma2000) and/or LTE cellular phones for their own use and not for resale from February 11, 2011, through the present in the United States.
This class includes consumers who received cellular phones as part of the purchase of a wireless network service contract from wireless providers, such as Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, or Sprint.
This class excludes (a) Defendant, its officers, directors, management, employees, subsidiaries, and affiliates; (b) all federal and state governmental entities; (c) all persons or entities who purchased Relevant Cellular Phones for purposes of resale; and (d) any judges or justices involved in this action and any members of their immediate families or their staff.
How much will it Pay?
There is no money available now, and no guarantee there ever will be. The District Court has not decided whether Qualcomm did anything wrong.
What are the Deadlines?
The deadline to exclude yourself from the class has already passed as of March 22, 2019
No claim forms are available at this time, and no claim-filing deadline exists.
Additional Information
For additional information regarding the status of the litigation, interested persons may visit https://www.mobilephoneclassaction.com, the Court-approved website for this case.
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