In re Dental Supplies Antitrust Litigation: Plaintiffs Defeat Henry Schein, Patterson Dental and Benco Motions to Dismiss

In In re Dental Supplies Antitrust Litigation, Putative Class Plaintiff dental practices and dental labs defeated the respective motions to dismiss of defendants Henry Schein, Patterson Dental and Benco. In rejecting Defendants’ arguments for dismissal on the pleadings, the Court found that Plaintiffs’ Complaint “actually contains quite a lot of specific factual detail.”

The Court ruled, “Plaintiffs have sufficiently alleged that defendants orchestrated a single interconnected nationwide conspiracy not to compete on price with the common goal of driving up margins and preventing competitive upstarts from gaining a larger share of the market.” The Court stated that Plaintiffs’ Complaint “alleges that defendants would systematically pressure rivals by threatening them that if they continued to sell dental supplies with low margins, defendants would use their collective market power to coerce manufacturers not to sell to them.

Defendants put this threat into action when necessary, as evidenced by their boycott of SourceOne.” The Court noted “Plaintiffs have adequately alleged that each defendant agreed to take part in, and actively participated in the conspiracy.”

Plaintiffs seek injunctive relief and monetary recovery for fixing of price margins of dental supplies and dental equipment. The suit is Case No. 1:16-CV-00696-BMC-GRB, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York and is proceeding before the Hon. Brian M. Cogan.

DiNovo Price LLP is an Austin-based law firm that handles intellectual property and antitrust litigation nationwide. DiNovo Price represents inventors, public corporations, privately-held businesses, and consumers, both individually and in class actions.