Sidley Wins Major Ninth Circuit Antitrust Appeal

Sidley secured a victory on behalf of Seagate Technology (“Seagate”) in a major Ninth Circuit appeal with significant implications for the application of United States antitrust law to anticompetitive conspiracies involving the global supply chain. Sidley brought the interlocutory appeal from an adverse summary judgment in an antitrust suit Seagate filed against Japanese company NHK. NHK had previously pled guilty to participating in a cartel which had fixed prices for vital hard drive components purchased by Seagate and other entities. Despite the guilty plea, the trial court threw out most of Seagate’s claims and held that the Foreign Trade Antitrust Improvements Act (FTAIA) meant that American antitrust law was inapplicable because the price-fixed parts were originally acquired by Seagate’s foreign affiliates.

On January 8, 2026, the Ninth Circuit overturned the lower court’s ruling, reviving Seagate’s claims on the grounds that the company had shown that NHK’s anticompetitive conduct had a direct effect on domestic commerce and that the FTAIA did not foreclose U.S. antitrust law. The ruling creates significant precedent regarding the Sherman Act’s application to global supply chains. The Sidley team representing Seagate included Eamon Joyce (New York), who argued the appeal in the Ninth Circuit, David Carpenter (Los Angeles), Jeremy Rozansky (Washington, D.C.), and Nicole Baade (Los Angeles).