Panasonic Accused of Price Fixing in Capacitor Class Action Lawsuit

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eIQ Energy Inc., a California solar electronics producer, filed a class action lawsuit against Panasonic and a number of other companies alleging that they colluded to fix the prices of aluminum, tantalum, film and ceramic capacitors since 2008.

Lead plaintiff eIQ Energy Inc. stated, “This action arises from a conspiracy to fix, raise, maintain or stabilize prices for tantalum capacitors, aluminum electrolytic capacitors and film capacitors.” The plaintiff further alleges, “Defendants engaged in anticompetitive activities, the purpose and effect the purpose of which were to artificially, raise, fix, maintain or stabilize the price of capacitor products sold in the United States.”

According to the plaintiffs, the companies began price fixing in 2007 in order to make up for profits lost during the recession. The plaintiffs also argued that before 2007 the companies were able to charge a premium for their products because they were superior to others on the market, however, the situation changed when the companies began using cheaper alternatives in 2007. eIQ Energy alleges in the class action lawsuit that the collusion only came to light in March of this year after American and Japanese authorities disclosed that they were investigating the companies.

eIQ energy alleges in its class action lawsuit, “The capacitor industry is mature and is dominated by established corporations … these companies have significant experience in the global capacitors industry, and have established reputations with sellers of raw materials and purchasers of finished capacitors.” eIQ Energy claimed that Panasonic and the other companies violated federal antitrust laws and seek treble damages in addition to Class certification.

The Panasonic class action lawsuit seeks to include “[a]ll persons that purchased Capacitor Products in the United States directly from any of the Defendants, their subsidiaries, affiliates or joint-ventures from January, 2008 through the present (the ‘Class Period’). Excluded from the Class are Defendants, their parent companies, subsidiaries and affiliates, any co-conspirators, and governmental entities.”

The class action lawsuit points out that capacitors were used in circuits they use in their solar panel products to store and distribute electricity at certain times and are used for many other applications. “Capacitors are incorporated into almost every electronic device, including audio/video equipment, telecommunication equipment, computers and automobiles,” the Panasonic class action lawsuit says. Last year, Panasonic and its subsidiaries agreed to plead guilty and pay criminal fines of $56.5 million for other price-fixing conspiracies involving automotive parts and battery cells for computers.

Additionally, earlier this summer, Panasonic and other companies named in the eIQ Energy Inc. class action were recently hit with another class action lawsuit. On July 18, Chip-Tech, Ltd., a New York company, filed an antitrust class action lawsuit alleging that Panasonic, Sanyo, Samsung and more than two dozen other companies and subsidiaries conspired together to restrict aluminum and tantalum electrolytic capacitors trading, actions that violate the Sherman Act.

eIQ Energy Inc. is represented by Dennis J. Drasco and Arthur M. Owens of Lum Drasco & Positan LLC.

The Panasonic Circuit Board Class Action Lawsuit is eIQ Energy Inc. v. AVX Corp., et al., Case No. 2:14-cv-04826, in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.