Obtained Full Dismissal for Graco in Putative Nationwide Antitrust Class Action

Insulate SB, Inc. v. Advanced Finishing Products & Equipment, et al., 13-cv-02664 (D. Minn.)

Robins Kaplan served as lead counsel for fluid-handling equipment manufacturer Graco Inc. and Graco Minnesota Inc. in the defense of a putative nationwide antitrust class action alleging unlawful business acquisitions and boycott, exclusive-dealing, and monopolization conspiracies involving the sale and distribution of spray foam insulation equipment.

Plaintiffs’ lawsuit followed a voluntary consent decree between Graco and the FTC relating to the acquisitions and certain of its business practices in the alleged fast-set spray foam equipment market. Robins Kaplan obtained the dismissal of all claims with prejudice, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 31188 (D. Minn. Mar.11, 2014).

Robins Kaplan then served as lead appellate counsel for Graco in an appeal from judgment in Graco’s favor. In the published decision upholding the dismissal of all claims against Graco, the Eighth Circuit applied the U.S. Supreme Court’s Colgate doctrine to unilaterally imposed exclusive-dealing policies. 797 F.3d 538 (8th Cir. 2015).