Paul, Weiss Wins Dismissal of Antitrust and Lanham Act Suit Against the DVD Forum and DVD Format/Logo Licensing Corporation

On April 22, Paul, Weiss won a major victory for its clients The DVD Forum and DVD Format/Logo Licensing Corporation (DVD FLLC), when Senior District Judge Mariana Pfaelzer of the Central District of California dismissed an antitrust and Lanham Act complaint brought against them by Swiss company EcoDisc Technology AG.

Plaintiff EcoDisc licenses the manufacture of an optical disc -- under the eponymous brand name "EcoDisc" -- that is half the thickness of a standard DVD. The DVD Forum is the standards body for DVD formats, and DVD FLLC licenses those formats along with the familiar DVD logo. EcoDisc claimed that notices that DVD FLLC sent to its licensees -- advising them that thin discs like those licensed by EcoDisc do not comply with the DVD format specifications and therefore fall outside the scope of the DVD format and logo license -- were an attempt to suppress a competing technology in violation of the Sherman Act, the Lanham Act and California state law.

Judge Pfaelzer dismissed the complaint against The DVD Forum with prejudice for lack of personal jurisdiction, finding that the Forum had insufficient contacts with the United States and that the allegations concerning the Forum's conduct did not describe actions directed toward California. The court denied EcoDisc's request for jurisdictional discovery and dismissed the complaint against DVD FLLC, holding that the antitrust claim was barred by the Noerr-Pennington Doctrine and that EcoDisc had failed to allege sufficient facts to support its allegation that DVD FLLC had made a false statement of fact regarding the EcoDisc. The court allowed the plaintiff leave to replead its complaint against DVD FLLC, provided that plaintiff could satisfy the rigorous pleading standard it held to apply to its claims.

Litigation partner Joe Simons represented DVD FLLC. Litigation counsel Steven Herzog provided valuable assistance to the effort.