Dynamic Accident Lawyers: Optical Disk Drive Direct Purchaser $75M Class Action Settlement

NEC-disk-drive

An almost $75 million class action settlement has been reached to resolve allegations that a group of electronics companies violated antitrust laws by engaging in a price-fixing conspiracy to increase the price of optical disk drives.

The optical disk drive class action settlement affects direct purchasers only — that is only individuals or businesses who bought the affected products from the named electronics companies directly — not from a retailer or wholesaler such as Best Buy, New Egg, Ingram Micro or Walmart.

Optical disk drives are used in CD players, DVD players, Blu-Ray players, computers, and video game consoles for the purpose of reading CDs, DVDs, and Blu-Ray disks.

The plaintiffs in the optical disk drive class action lawsuit alleged that the electronic companies conspired to fix, raise, maintain, or stabilize optical disk drive prices. As a result of the alleged price-fixing conspiracy, the plaintiffs claim that they were forced to pay more for the affected products than they would have without the alleged conspiracy.

There are two classes that are part of this antitrust class action settlement. The first is for those who purchased optical disk drives and/or optical disk drive devices directly from Hitachi-LG Data Storage from Jan. 1, 2004 through Dec. 31, 2011.

The second class is for individuals or companies that purchased optical disk drives or a laptop or desktop computer that uses an optical disk drive directly from Panasonic, NEC Corporation, Phillips & Lite-On Digital Solutions (PLDS), Toshiba Samsung Storage Technology Corp. (TSST), Sony Corporation, BenQ Corporation, TEAC Corporation, Quanta Storage Inc. (QSI), and Pioneer Corporation from Jan. 1, 2004 through Jan. 1, 2010.

The combined settlement fund from each company totals $74.9 million. Hitachi-LG Data Storage has paid the most into the settlement fund at $26 million.

The electronics companies do not admit to any wrongdoing, but they have agreed to the terms of this class action settlement to avoid the cost and risk of going to trial. This class action settlement was preliminary approved with the various companies starting in 2013 through 2015. The original deadline to file a claim to participate in this class action settlement was June 22, 2015, but the date has been extended to March 7, 2016.

Who’s Eligible

There are two classes that are a part of the class action settlement:

The first is for those who purchased optical disk drives and/or optical disk drive devices directly from Hitachi-LG Data Storage from Jan. 1, 2004 through Dec. 31, 2011.
The second class is for individuals or companies that purchased optical disk drives or laptop or desktop computers that use optical disk drives directly from Panasonic, NEC Corporation, Phillips & Lite-On Digital Solutions (PLDS), Toshiba Samsung Storage Technology Corp. (TSST), Sony Corporation, BenQ Corporation, TEAC Corporation, Quanta Storage Inc. (QSI), and Pioneer Corporation from Jan. 1, 2004 through Jan. 1, 2010.

Potential Award

A dollar amount will be assigned to each item that was purchased:

Optical Disk Drives will be valued at 100 percent of their purchase price.
Optical Disk Drive Devices will be valued at a fixed amount:
1. Desktop/Laptop Computer: $32
2. Sony PlayStation 2: $20
3. Sony PlayStation 3: $73
4. CD player/recorder: $15
5. DVD player/recorder: $20
6. Blu-Ray player/recorder: $73
Note that the settlement with each company has varying and overlapping class definitions. This means that some purchases may qualify for one settlement fund but not the other. This will be verified by the Claims Administrator.

Proof of Purchase

Class Members do not need to attach a proof of purchase to their claim, but they are advised to keep copies of any purchase orders, invoices or other documentation, in case the Claims Administrator needs additional documentation to verify the purchases.

Claim Form

CLICK HERE TO FILE A CLAIM »

Claim Form Deadline

03/07/2016

Case Name

The Optical Disk Drive Antitrust Class Action Lawsuit is In re Optical Disk Drive Antitrust Litigation, Case No. 3:10-md-02143-RS, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, San Francisco Division.

Final Hearing

04/14/2016

Settlement Website

www.OpticalDiskDriveSettlement.com

Claims Administrator

ODDA Claims Administrator
c/o Gilardi & Co. LLC
PO Box 808054
Petalima, CA 94975-8054
(888) 270-0759
info@odddirectpurchaserantitrustsettlement.com

Class Counsel

Guido Saveri
SAVERI & SAVERI, INC.

Defense Counsel

Robert B. Pringle
WINSTON & STRAWN LLC
(COUNSEL FOR NEC, PANASONIC)

Mark S. Popofsky
ROPES & GRAY LLP
(COUNSEL FOR HITACHI-LG)

Evan Werbel
BAKER BOTTS LLP
(COUNSEL FOR PHILLIPS & LITE-ON)

Joel B. Kleinman
Lisa M. Kaas
DICKSTEIN SHAPIRO LLP
(COUNSEL FOR BENQ)

Eric P. Enson
JONES DAY
(COUNSEL FOR PIONEER)

Daniel Murray Wall
Belinda S. Lee
Brendan A. McShane
LATHAM & WATKINS LLP
(COUNSEL FOR TOSHIBA SAMSUNG STORAGE)

John F. Cove, Jr.
BOIES SCHILLER & FLEXNER LLP
(COUNSEL FOR SONY)

Mary Ellen Hennessy
KATTEN MUCHIN ROSENMAN LLP
(COUNSEL FOR TEAC)

Keith A. Walter, Jr.
DRINKER BIDDLE & REATH LLP
(COUNSEL FOR QSI)

Ian Simmons
James M. Pearl
O’MELVENY & MYERS LLP
(COUNSEL FOR SAMSUNG)

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