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Court Orders Flash Memory Defendants to Disclose International Sales Data in Antitrust Action

August 4, 2009

A federal judge has granted plaintiffs' motion to compel discovery ordering Hitachi America Ltd., Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., and other defendants in a consolidated antitrust class action against makers of flash memory chips to turn over non-U.S. sales data for the products. The plaintiffs' motion, briefed and argued by Zelle Hofmann partner, Judith Zahid, asserted that these defendants were withholding crucial information about non-U.S. sales.

Judge Joseph Spero of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California ruled that defendants must turn over the data by July 31.

The plaintiffs are seeking certification of two classes in this case: direct and indirect purchasers. Zelle Hofmann represents the indirect purchasers.

The lawsuits allege an international price fixing conspiracy of the world's largest manufactures of flash memory. The flash memory chip market is controlled by an oligopoly, plaintiffs argue, with Samsung, Toshiba, Hynix, Renesas and Micron having cornered more than 96.5 percent, making billions of dollars in sales over the past several years.

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