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PRESS
RELEASE |
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Class Counsel Announce Filing
of Class Action Complaint Charging Leading Manufacturers
of Cathode-Ray Tubes Participated In A Global Cartel To
Fix Prices |
| SAN FRANCISCO--November
27, 2007--Class counsel for businesses and individuals
that purchased cathode-ray tubes (“CRTs”) and
products containing CRTs from manufacturers announced the
filing today of a class action complaint alleging defendants
operated a global cartel to fix the prices of CRTs sold
in the United States. |
| "With the rapid fall in demand for
CRTs in the United States over the past decade due to the
introduction of technologically superior products, prices
for CRTs should have rapidly declined as well,” stated
plaintiff’s counsel Joseph
R. Saveri of Lieff Cabraser
Heimann & Bernstein, LLP. “Instead, for almost
a decade, we have seen periods of unnatural and sustained
price stability, as well as inexplicable increases in the
prices of CRTs.” |
| CRT technology has been in use for more
than 100 years. CRTs can be found in a wide range of products
including computer monitors and televisions. “Despite
the enormous size of the CRT industry, it is dominated
by a small group of manufacturers," Saveri added. “The
complaint charges that these manufacturers participated
in a global cartel to fix the prices of CRTs.” |
| The complaint alleges defendants’ collusive
behavior artificially inflated the price of CRT products,
causing plaintiff and other direct purchasers to pay more
than they should have. The defendants include multinational
electronics corporations Chunghwa, LG Electronics, Matushita,
Philips Electronics, Samsung and Toshiba. A number of these
companies have been the subject of coordinated enforcement
actions by the United States Department of Justice and
competition authorities in Europe, Japan and South Korea.
Chunghwa recently confirmed it had a received a subpoena
relating to CRTs issued by a California district court.
A federal grand jury operating under the auspices of the
United States Department of Justice, Antitrust Division
(“DOJ”) through its San Francisco office issued
the subpoena. |
| Plaintiff seeks to represent the following
class of businesses and individuals: |
All persons and entities residing in the
United States who, from May 1, 1998 through the present,
purchased CRT Products in the United States directly from
the Defendants. Specifically excluded from this Class are
the Defendants; the officers, directors or employees of
any Defendant; any entity in which any Defendant has a
controlling interest; and any affiliate, legal representative,
heir or assign of any Defendant. Also excluded are all
governmental entities, and any judicial officer presiding
over this action. |
| Further information on the litigation,
including a copy of the consolidated class action complaint,
can be obtained at www.lieffcabraser.com/antitrust/crt.htm. |
| Antitrust laws are designed to protect
the economy and to promote competition among businesses
by prohibiting price-fixing and other forms of anticompetitive
conduct. |
| Individuals, businesses, public agencies
and other entities that have purchased CRTs or products
incorporating CRTs are welcome to contact plaintiffs' counsel.
Learning of your experience in purchasing these products
will assist us in prosecuting the litigation. We will review
your claim without charge or obligation. |
| You may contact Lieff Cabraser partner
Eric B. Fastiff at 1-800-541-7358 or use
our contact form. |
Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein,
LLP
Joseph R. Saveri
415-956-1000 |
| Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP is a fifty-plus
attorney law firm with offices in San Francisco, New York and Nashville.
We represent businesses, governments and individuals as plaintiffs in class
and group actions as well as in individual lawsuits in cases involving
substantial losses. Since 2003, the National Law Journal has annually
selected Lieff Cabraser as one of the top plaintiffs' law firms in the
nation. |
| Lieff Cabraser has played a prominent role in federal
litigation under the Sherman Act on behalf of businesses in numerous markets
including computer components, prescription drugs, polypropylene carpets,
compact discs, credit cards, linerboard, carbon fiber, plastic laminates,
flat glass, industrial pigments and vitamins. We have also successfully
litigated antitrust claims against Microsoft Corporation for monopolistic
practices, and achieved record recoveries against El Paso Gas Co. and wholesale
electric companies for allegedly manipulating the price of energy in California. Learn
more about our firm. |
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LIEFF CABRASER HEIMANN & BERNSTEIN, LLP |
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| Notice: Lieff
Cabraser attorneys provide legal advice and practice law for clients in
federal district courts throughout the United States and in state courts
where we are licensed to practice. In states in which our lawyers are not
licensed to practice, we have affiliations with local attorneys who serve
as co-counsel with our firm. Please read our disclaimer. |
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Copyright © 2008 Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein,
LLP |
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