Qualcomm Class-Action Urged to Proceed Despite DOJ Pushback

A class-action that accuses Qualcomm Inc. of stifling competition and raising prices for headset chips should proceed despite the Justice Department’s objections that it would federalize state antitrust law, a group of cell phone users said in a new filing.

The DOJ’s antitrust division, along with the Attorneys General of Louisiana, Ohio, and Texas, believe that if the case moves forward as a class-action it would essentially federalize California antitrust law which allows indirect purchasers, i.e. cell phone users, to sue for antitrust damages.

“Plainly that is not true,” the plaintiffs suing Qualcomm said in a reply brief filed August ...