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A Single Call: The Need To Amend The Parent-Subsidiary Relationship Under The Ftaia In View Of Motorola Mobility, Catherine E. Cognetti

Fordham Journal of Corporate & Financial Law

In Motorola Mobility, LLC v. AU Optronics Corporation, the Seventh Circuit dismissed Motorola’s Sherman Act claims under the Foreign Trade Antitrust Improvement Act. In doing so, they held that Motorola’s American parent corporation was a separate entity from their foreign subsidiaries, and thus barred from bringing suit under the indirect purchaser doctrine. The effect of the Seventh Circuit’s decision precluded injured purchasers from recovering damages under the Sherman Act—Motorola’s subsidiaries could not sue because their injuries occurred abroad, while Motorola could not sue because it did not make direct purchases from the antitrust violators.

Courts have often considered a parent …