Developments In The Capacitor Cartel Litigation: Class Counsel Appointed And The Antitrust Division Intervenes

In July, we wrote about two putative class action lawsuits alleging that Panasonic, Samsung, and other electronics manufacturers had formed a cartel to boost prices of certain electronic capacitors. Since then, the cases have been consolidated, interim lead co-counsel have been appointed, the Antitrust Division has confirmed its own investigation, and the court has set a preliminary case schedule.

Recall that the original plaintiffs accused the manufacturers of coordinating not just the pricing but also the production lead times for their aluminum and tantalum electrolytic capacitors. Three more lawsuits followed, which led Judge James Donato to consolidate all five actions into In re Capacitors Antitrust Litigation, No. 14 Civ. 3264 (N.D. Cal.). Since he issued that order on October 2, several more cases have been filed and are in the process of being designated as related to the consolidated action. Some of these plaintiffs allege that they purchased the capacitors