Significant Cases and Matters of Paul R. Griffin (By Industry)
Telecom
Bell Atlantic v. AirTouch Cellular, San Francisco Federal Court.
Represented AirTouch Cellular in breach of contract, fraud, and monopolization case between two
partners in the first-ever nationwide cellular joint venture. Settlement and Vodafone’s subsequent
acquisition of AirTouch led to the creation of the entity now known as Verizon Wireless.
Vodafone America
Retained by Vodafone America following Vodafone’s acquisition of AirTouch Cellular to negotiate
transition and indemnity agreements with Verizon Wireless and Verizon Communications. Served as one
of the primary outside litigation counsel for Vodafone America.
T-Mobile
Retained by T-Mobile to advise on launch of its cellular operations in California.
Garabedian v. Los Angeles SMSA Telephone Company, Orange County, California Superior Court.
Represented AirTouch Cellular and GTE Mobilnet in class action alleging price fixing, conspiracy, and
unfair competition between the two cellular carriers offering cellular service in the greater Los
Angeles/Orange County market during the 1980s and early 1990s.
Lobatz v. U.S. West, San Diego Federal Court.
Represented AirTouch Cellular in class action alleging price fixing, conspiracy, and unfair competition
between the two cellular carriers offering cellular service in the San Diego market during the 1980s and
early 1990s.
Lawndale v. Bay Area Cellular Telephone Company, San Francisco Superior Court.
Represented AirTouch Cellular in consolidated class actions alleging price fixing, conspiracy, and unfair
competition between the two cellular carriers offering cellular service in the San Francisco market during
the 1980s and early 1990s.
Parrish v. Pacific Telesis Group, Sacramento, California Superior Court.
Represented AirTouch Cellular in class action alleging price fixing, conspiracy, and unfair competition
between the two cellular carriers offering cellular service in the Sacramento Valley market during the
1980s and early 1990s.
McCaw v. PacTel Cellular, San Francisco Federal and Superior Courts, California PUC, and FCC.
Represented PacTel Cellular and Pacific Telesis Group in five antitrust actions by cellular and paging
competitors against PacTel alleging monopolization, unfair competition, fraud, and breach of contract with
respect to a cellular telephone partnership and Pacific Telesis Group’s acquisition of Communication
Industries.
Ball v. GTE Mobilnet, Sacramento, California Superior Court.
Represented AirTouch Cellular and Verizon Wireless in class action against California cellular service
providers alleging that a variety of business practices constituted unfair competition and unfair business
practices.
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Goldenwest v. Los Angeles Cellular Telephone Company, Orange County, California Superior Court.
Represented AirTouch Cellular in price fixing, conspiracy, and unfair competition action by a cellular
equipment retailer against the two cellular service providers in the greater Los Angeles/Orange County
market during the 1980s and early 1990s.
Covad v. Pacific Bell, San Francisco Federal Court.
Represented Pacific Bell and SBC in monopolization and breach of contract case by DSL company against
Pacific Bell alleging exclusionary conduct.
Century Cable v. City of Palo Alto, San Francisco Federal Court.
Represented Pacific Bell in action against a municipality and Pacific Bell alleging monopolization and unfair
competition with respect to exclusive cable franchises.
Freedom Wireless v. Boston Communications Group, Boston Federal Court.
Represented AirTouch Cellular and Vodafone in patent infringement action against prepaid cellular
service providers.
T-Mobile/AG Investigation
Represented T-Mobile in investigation by California Attorney General.
Semiconductor/Technology
DRAM Antitrust Litigation, San Francisco Federal Court, Ninth Circuit and 35 state courts.
Represent NEC Corporation and NEC Electronics America (now known as Renesas Electronics America) in
DOJ Antitrust Division grand jury proceeding and multi-district actions brought by more than 30 state
attorneys general, classes of direct purchasers and indirect purchasers, and large opt-out customers
alleging conspiracy to fix prices and reduce the output of DRAM memory chips. Our client was the only
major defendant not to plead guilty in the criminal investigation.
SRAM Antitrust Litigation, San Francisco Federal Court.
Represented NEC Electronics America (now known as Renesas Electronics America) in DOJ Antitrust
Division grand jury proceedings and multi-district class actions brought by direct purchasers and 27 state
classes alleging a conspiracy to fix the prices of SRAM memory chips. Selected by defense counsel and
appointed by Court as Defendants’ Liaison Counsel.
Optical Disk Drive Antitrust Litigation, San Francisco Federal Court.
Represent NEC Corporation in multi-district class actions brought by direct purchasers, indirect
purchasers, OEM opt outs and the State of Florida attorney general alleging a conspiracy to fix the prices
of optical disk drives and products containing optical disk drives.
Lithium Ion Batteries Litigation, Oakland Federal Court.
Represent NEC TOKIN Corporation and NEC Corporation in direct purchaser class and indirect purchaser
class actions alleging a conspiracy to fix the price of lithium ion batteries and battery products.
Cascades Computer Innovation LLC v. RPX Corporation, Oakland Federal Court.
Represented Dell in antitrust action alleging that defendants conspired to boycott plaintiff by refusing to
take a patent license or engage in meaningful negotiations.
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Magnetic Iron Oxide Antitrust Litigation, San Francisco Federal and State Courts.
Represented defendant in multi-district cartel class action alleging a conspiracy to fix prices and reduce
output of MIO, a chemical used to magnetize video and audio tapes and products.
Integrated Device Technology v. ILJIN Electric Company
Represented IDT in international arbitration in Singapore under the ICC rules against ILJIN for breach of a
SRAM and a microprocessor technology licensing agreement, fraud, and unfair competition.
Silicon Valley Joint Patent User Group, San Francisco Superior Court.
Advised group of 17 semiconductor companies on joint antitrust issues against common hostile patent
owners.
Energy
In re Natural Gas Antitrust Litigation, San Diego Superior Court.
Represented TXU Corp. in 12 coordinated price fixing actions brought by California governmental entities
arising out of the California energy crisis.
United States v. B & H Construction Co., Denver Federal Court.
Represented B & H Construction, a subsidiary of InfrastruX, in acquittal by jury of criminal bid-rigging
charges brought by the U.S. Department of Justice, Antitrust Division.
City of Long Beach v. Chevron (In re Petroleum Products Litigation - MDL 150), Los Angeles Federal
Court.
Represented Chevron in price fixing and conspiracy action by the State of California and California
municipalities against the major California refiners alleging overcharges for crude oil.
Federal Trade Commission v. Chevron Corporation and Gulf Oil Company, Federal Trade Commission.
Represented Chevron in action by FTC to enjoin the then-largest merger in history, second request and
HSR negotiations.
State of Alaska v. Amerada Hess (In re Alaska North Slope Royalty Litigation), Juneau, Alaska Superior
Court.
Represented Chevron in action by State of Alaska against the Alaska oil industry alleging underpayment of
crude oil royalties, fraud, and breach of contract.
Marine Construction Antitrust Litigation, New Orleans Federal Court.
Represented Chevron in antitrust claim against McDermott and Brown & Root alleging price fixing of
marine construction platforms, pipelines and equipment.
Retail/Consumer/Other
State of California v. Safeway, Los Angeles Federal Court and Ninth Circuit.
Representing Ralphs and Kroger in antitrust action by the California Attorney General alleging that a
mutual strike assistance agreement and partial revenue-sharing agreement entered into by grocery
companies, in connection with a labor strike, violated the Sherman Act.
High Country Linens v. American Pacific Enterprises, San Francisco Federal Court.
Represented High Country Linen in trademark, copyright infringement and unfair competition action by
one competitor in the luxury bedding and linen industry against another.
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American Booksellers Association v. Barnes & Noble and Borders, San Francisco Federal Court.
Represented Borders in price discrimination and unfair competition action by 26 independent bookstores
nationwide and their trade association against the two largest bookselling chains.
Wolf v. Toyota (In re Toyota Antitrust Litigation), San Francisco Federal Court.
Represented the Northern California Toyota Dealers Association and a nationwide class of Toyota dealers
in consolidated antitrust and fraud class actions alleging price fixing and conspiracy among Toyota and its
dealers to inflate the price of local advertising charged to consumers on Toyota vehicles.
Fieler v. Chrysler Corporation, San Francisco Federal Court.
Represented Chrysler in unfair competition, fraud, and breach of contract action by an advertising
company against Chrysler and its Northern California dealer association.
Furniture Creations v. Universal Furniture, Los Angeles Superior Court (Norwalk).
Represented Universal Furniture in breach of contract, unfair competition, and fraud action by a former
exclusive distributor of furniture products against a Hong Kong manufacturer.
Golden v. J. C. Penney Company, Orange County, California Superior Court.
Represented Borders in unfair competition class action alleging that a number of retailers in different
industries sold gift certificates that expire in violation of California law.
RAS v. Borders Group, Inc., Sacramento, California Superior Court.
Represented Borders in unfair competition class action alleging that a number of retailers in different
industries sold gift certificates that expired in violation of California law.
Jones v. Borders, San Diego Superior Court.
Represented Borders in class action alleging that the refusal to redeem gift cards for cash violates
California’s gift card statute and unfair competition law.
Ramirez v. Eddie Bauer, San Diego Superior Court.
Represented Borders in class action alleging that failure to replace lost, damaged, or stolen gift cards
violates California law.
Leffert v. Amazon.com, San Francisco Superior Court.
Represented largest manufacturer of MP3 players in class action against the MP3 player industry alleging
that memory capacity was overstated.
CB Richard Ellis v. Insignia Financial
Represented CB Richard Ellis in trademark infringement action relating to the worldwide rights to the name
“Richard Ellis.”
California Department of Motor Vehicles v. Chrysler Corporation
Represented Chrysler in disciplinary action and administrative trial in Sacramento by the California DMV to
suspend Chrysler’s license to sell or supply vehicles in the State of California for alleged violations of
California’s lemon law.
BusinessLand v. PacTel InfoSystems, Sacramento, California Superior Court.
Represented PacTel InfoSystems in unfair competition/theft of trade secrets/unlawful raiding of employees
action by one competitor against another in the computer hardware retailing industry.
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Smoking and Health Product Liability Litigation
Represented American Tobacco Company in 40 personal injury and wrongful death product liability cases
in California in various federal and state courts.
Kantarian v. UltimateBid.com
Represented Ultimatebid.com in claim by terminated former president of an internet auction site company
against his employer for breach of contract and fraud.
Celebrity Negotiations for UltimateBid.com
Negotiated contracts with Joe Montana, Tiger Woods, Heidi Klum, and Geena Davis for internet company
UltimateBid.com.
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