Further Settlements in LCD Antitrust Class Action

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Further Settlements in LCD Antitrust Class Action

October 27, 2011

On October 4, 2011, U.S. District Court Judge Susan Illston preliminarily approved eight partial class settlements totaling over $388 million in the national class action litigation against the world's leading manufacturers of Thin Film Transistor Liquid Crystal Displays ("TFT-LCDs"). Plaintiffs charge that defendants consipred to raise, fix, and stabilize the prices of TFT-LCDs.

The settling defendants include: Chimei Innolux Corporation, Chi Mei Corporation, Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corporation, CMO Japan Co., Ltd., Chi Mei Optoelectronics USA, Inc., Nexgen Mediatech, Inc. and Nexgen Mediatech USA, Inc. (“Chi Mei”); HannStar Display Corporation (“HannStar”); Hitachi, Ltd., Hitachi Displays, Ltd. and Hitachi Electronic Devices (USA), Inc. (“Hitachi”); LG Display Co. Ltd. and LG Display America, Inc. (“LG Display”); Mitsui & Co. (Taiwan), Ltd. (“Mitsui”); Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., Samsung Electronics America, Inc. and Samsung Semiconductor, Inc. (“Samsung”); Sanyo Consumer Electronics Co., Ltd. (“Sanyo”); and Sharp Corporation (“Sharp”).

Under the settlement agreements, defendants have agreed to pay:

Chimei: $78,000,000
HannStar: $14,900,000
Hitachi: $28,000,000
LG Display: $75,000,000
Mitsui: $950,000
Samsung: $82,672,242
Sanyo: $3,500,000
Sharp: $105,000,000

These combined amounts constitute approximately 14% of the settling defendants’ total volume of commerce during the class period, a relatively high percentage compared to settlements in many other antitrust cases.

The settlement agreements also provide that each settling defendant must assist direct purchaser plaintiffs in prosecuting their case against the non-settling defendants. A trial against these remaining defendants is set to begin around May of 2012.

Copies of settlement notices for class members are available here. To participate in the settlement, a claims form must be submitted by April 5, 2012. Claim forms are available here.

To learn more about the case and the settlements, click here.