F. Hoffmann-La Roche, Ltd. v. Empagran S.A.
United States Supreme Court
542 U.S. 155 (2004)
Empagran and other foreign and domestic vitamin purchasers (plaintiffs) sued Hoffmann-La Roche and other vitamin sellers (defendants) for price-fixing under the Sherman Act. The sellers moved to dismiss the foreign purchasers' claims as based on foreign conduct outside domestic antitrust law's reach. The district court agreed and dismissed those claims; domestic purchasers pursued a separate suit. The court of appeals reversed, reasoning that even foreign-only harm counted because it was part of a conspiracy that, overall, substantially affected domestic commerce. The sellers sought Supreme Court review.
Whether the Sherman Act applies to foreign anticompetitive conduct that causes injury only in foreign markets, where that conduct is part of a broader conspiracy with separate domestic effects.