Asimow represented the Golden State Warriors in winning dismissal of an antitrust lawsuit brought by eBay's online ticket seller StubHub Inc. that alleged the Warriors and Ticketmaster monopolized the market for secondary ticket exchange services for Warriors games. He persuaded U.S. District Judge Maxine M. Chesney of San Francisco to grant his motion to dismiss the case, despite StubHub's claim that the defendants cornered the market for tickets to attend the "only professional basketball games in the Bay Area." Chesney disagreed, holding that "StubHub's proposed product markets are not cognizable as a matter of law."
StubHub appealed but voluntarily dismissed its appeal before briefing in July, leaving Chesney's dismissal order final. "It was a great result," said Asimow, who tried the case with New York colleague C. Scott Lent and counts himself a Warriors fan. "It's hard to get an antitrust claim thrown out at the motion to dismiss stage. We had three firms opposing us, but we prevailed." StubHub Inc. v. Golden State Warriors LLC and Ticketmaster Entertainment LLC, 15-cv-1436 (N.D. Cal., filed March 29, 2015).
"The Warriors are a pleasure to deal with," Asimow said of his client. "And the economics of ticketing are very interesting."
Asimow represents Endo Pharmaceuticals, maker of the Lidoderm shingles pain patch, in a multidistrict antitrust class action in the Northern District. The case is the first in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to deal with the implications of the U.S. Supreme Court's 2013 Actavis PLC decision that introduced potential antitrust liability into so-called pay-to-delay agreements that can stall low-cost generic drugs' entry into the marketplace. In re Lidodern Antitrust Litigation, 14-md-2521, (N.D. Cal., transferred by MDL panel April 3, 2014).
After a federal jury awarded $7.4 million to Motown soul singer Marvin Gaye's heirs in March 2015 on their counterclaims in the "Blurred Lines" infringement suit, the heirs retained Asimow to represent them to collaborate on post-verdict motions and appeals. The motions led to orders largely affirming the verdict and denying a new trial. Though the trial judge reduced the award to $5.9 million, he added a benefit for the Gaye heirs — half of all future royalties from Robin Thicke's infringing "Blurred Lines" will go to Asimow's clients. The outcome is currently before the 9th Circuit. "It was disappointing to lose part of the award," Asimow said, "but the continuing future royalties payments are a big plus." Williams v. Gaye, 15-57880 (9th Cir., filed Dec. 7, 2015).
— John Roemer
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