SEATTLE – Consumers who purchased computers from 2003-2008 now have a longer window of time to file a claim for a portion of a $180 million settlement against electronics manufacturers, according to class counsel, Hagens Berman. The extension comes from the court, and moves the claim filing deadline to Oct. 30, 2017 for any indirect purchasers (those bought from a retail store or website, for example) of certain optical disk drive (ODD) products.

WHAT IS THE CASE ABOUT?  

The $180 million lawsuit alleges a conspiracy involving ODD suppliers to fix, maintain or stabilize the prices of optical disk drives at artificially high levels in violation of federal and state antitrust laws for more than five years. In other words, consumers overpaid due to an ongoing scheme and agreement between the defendants. ODD refers to a DVD-RW, DVD-ROM, or COMBO drive manufactured by one or more defendants or their asserted conspirators.

There are three separate groups of defendants in this lawsuit: 1.) Koninklijke Philips N.V., Lite-On IT Corporation, Philips & Lite-On Digital Solutions Corporation, Philips & Lite-On Digital Solutions U.S.A., Inc. (collectively “PLDS”); 2.) Pioneer Corporation, Pioneer North America, Inc., Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc., and Pioneer High Fidelity Taiwan Co., Ltd. (collectively “Pioneer”); and 3.) TEAC America, Inc.; TEAC Corporation (collectively “TEAC”).

AM I AFFECTED? COULD I FILE A CLAIM?

You may be eligible to file a claim in this case if you:

• Indirectly* bought a computer with an internal optical disk drive and/or a stand-alone disk drive,
• Between Apr. 1, 2003 and Dec. 31, 2008,
• For your own use, and not for resale and
• While a resident of any of these 24 states: AZ, CA, DC, FL, HI, KS, ME, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NM, NY, NC, OR, TN, UT, VT, WV or WI.

*“Indirectly” means the product was purchased at a retail store or online site (ex: Walmart, Amazon.com, Best Buy, etc.), and not the manufacturer, directly.

HOW DO I FILE A CLAIM?

A detailed notice, which includes additional information about the settlements, as well as the ability to file an online claim, is available at www.DollarsforDiskDrives.com.

WHAT ARE THE SETTLEMENT BENEFITS?

The settlements provide for $55.5 million in recovery for class members (see below) in addition to $124.5 million already reached with four defendant families (Panasonic, NEC, Sony and HLDS) for a total settlement of $180 million.

Specifically, the PLDS settlement fund is $40 million, the Pioneer settlement fund is $10.5 million and the TEAC settlement fund is $5 million (for a total of $55.5 million).

WHERE CAN I FIND MORE INFORMATION?

For more details about the Optical Disk Drive settlements, visit www.DollarsforDiskDrives.com, or call 1-877-368-9020. The settlement administrator may also be reached via mail at the following address: In re ODD Products Indirect Purchaser Litigation, P.O. Box 43424. Providence, RI 02940-3424.

###

About Hagens Berman
Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP is a consumer-rights class-action law firm with 11 offices across the country. The firm has been named to the National Law Journal’s Plaintiffs’ Hot List eight times. More about the law firm and its successes can be found at www.hbsslaw.com. Follow the firm for updates and news at @ClassActionLaw.

Media Contact
Ashley Klann
[email protected]
206-268-9363