Experian wins appeal of California antitrust action filed by consumer credit report resellers

Client(s) Experian Information Solutions, Inc.

Jones Day led the defense of Experian Information Solutions, Inc. against antitrust cases filed in March 2004 in federal court and state court in California by resellers of consumer credit reports on behalf of a class of resellers (the federal case) and by a trade association of resellers (the state case). The other two national repositories, Equifax and TransUnion, also were sued. In these cases, the resellers claimed that Experian monopolized and attempted to monopolize the consumer credit report market by supposedly engaging in a price-cost squeeze and other claimed restrictive distribution practices, in violation of Section 2 of the Sherman Act and California's Unfair Competition Law (Section 17200). The lower court dismissed the Section 2 claims and granted the defendants' motion for summary judgment on the Robinson-Patman claim. Jones Day also handled the appeal before the Ninth Circuit, which affirmed the dismissal of the Section 2 claim in September 2008.

Standfacts Credit Servs., Inc. v. Experian Information Solutions, 405 F. Supp. 2d 1141 (C.D. Cal.), No. 07-55252 (9th Cir.)