Robert Milne

Cartel 

• Representing Vanderbilt University in national class action claims alleging conspiracy among Top-25 universities in respect of student financial aid. 
• Representing academic publisher Taylor & Francis in national class action claims asserting collusion in respect of compensation for academic peer reviewers.
• Represented Saudi Aramco, the national oil company of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, in class action litigation challenging the activities of OPEC and its members under the U.S. antitrust law. Secured dismissal of all claims. 
• Represented OPEC (the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) in several litigations seeking to challenge OPEC's activities under U.S. antitrust law, securing dismissal of all claims, including most recently in March 2022. 
• Representing Experian Information Solutions, Inc. in class action litigation against major national credit reporting agencies claiming conspiracy in respect of credit scoring rates.
• Representing Symrise Corp in major class action cartel claims in global fragrance industry.
• Representing IPEX LLC in national antitrust claims asserting collusion in PVC piping. 
• Secured dismissal of claims asserted against Experian Information Solutions, Inc. in class action litigation alleging conspiracy to fix consumer interest rates among major financial institutions, credit reporting agencies and credit scoring companies, securing dismissal of all claims. 
• Secured dismissal of major class action claims alleging price fixing among producers of IV saline solutions for Hospira, a wholly owned subsidiary of Pfizer, Inc. that has since sold the relevant business to ICU Medical, Inc. 
• Secured dismissal for Novasep from litigation alleging cartel to limit supply of API for major branded cardiovascular pharmaceutical.
• Represented Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation in class action litigation accusing sixteen major international pharmaceutical companies and the largest U.S. pharmaceutical wholesalers of a group boycott in violation of the antitrust laws, securing dismissal of all claims. 
• Represented Experian Information Solutions, Inc. in an action brought by FICO the dominant provider of consumer credit risk scoring services, against the three major U.S. credit bureaus alleging collusion and trademark violations in the sale of credit scoring services, securing summary judgment on the antitrust claims and a jury verdict on the trademark claims. The jury also found that FICO committed fraud on the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in procuring registration of the trademark in suit. 
• Represented Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation in class action litigation claiming a conspiracy to inflate branded prescription drug prices charged to retail pharmacies, securing directed verdict for defendants after ten-week jury trial. 
• Represented the Belarusian Potash Company in class action litigation claiming price fixing against U.S. and non-U.S. Potash producers, securing favourable settlement. 
• Routinely represents clients in non-public criminal grand jury proceedings. 

IP-Antitrust  

• Representing Novartis Pharmaceuticals in major litigation against Regeneron asserting so-called Walker-Process fraud antitrust claims in connection with cutting edge ophthalmology auto-injector products. 
• Successfully represented LG Electronics in major, fast-track litigation against Dolby Laboratories for anticompetitive abuse of standard essential patents.
• Advising numerous global firms on antitrust issues associated with standard essential patents, including Saudi Aramco, TSMC, and many others.
• Represented Pfizer, Inc. in ground-breaking litigation challenging Johnson & Johnson's efforts to deter biosimilar competition in respect of its blockbuster biologic Remicade, including through IP. Secured favourable settlement.
• Represented Syngenta Seeds, Inc. in class action litigation alleging collusive exploitation of IP relating to pest and herbicide resistant corn and soybean seeds among major bio-tech seed producers. After a mini-trial on the issues relevant to class certification, the court denied plaintiffs' motion to certify the case for class action status. 
• Represented Samsung Bioepis in first major claim of “reverse payment” patent settlements in context of biologic drugs; claims pertained to Humira, the largest selling drug of all time.  Secured dismissal, which was affirmed by Seventh Circuit. 
• Representing Pfizer, Inc. in separate class action antitrust litigations challenging alleged "reverse payment" patent settlements and/or alleged fraudulent conduct in procuring patents in connection with the blockbuster products Lipitor, Effexor XR, Celebrex and Epi-Pen. 
• Represented Allergan in multiple class action antitrust litigations challenging alleged "reverse payment" patent settlements, product hopping and/or conduct in procuring patents, in connection with such leading products as Asacol, Loestrin, Namenda and Doryx. 
• Represented Boehringer-Ingelheim in class action antitrust litigation challenging an alleged "reverse payment" patent settlement in connection with its leading Aggrenox product. 
• Represented Sandoz, Inc. in the first-ever jury trial of a claimed "reverse payment" patent settlement, involving the product Hytrin, securing a jury verdict in defendants' favor. 
• Represented Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation in class action litigation challenging co-pay assistance programs, securing dismissal of all claims. ¨ 
• Represented Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation in litigation commenced by hundreds of retail drugstores claiming unlawful price discrimination, securing summary judgment dismissing all claims. 
• Represented Lek Pharmaceuticals in major monopolization case alleging abuse of patent rights; secured favourable settlement. 
• Represented Sandoz, Inc. in litigation filed by sanofi-aventis seeking to invalidate approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration of the first generic equivalent to Sanofi's blockbuster biologic drug, Lovenox, securing win for client. The court's decision allowed Sandoz to continue to sell its product, and vindicated the power of the FDA to approve generic equivalents of complex biological drug products using a flexible scientific approach.

Selected Mergers and Corporate Transactions 

• Counsel to Saudi Aramco in its $70 billion acquisition of controlling stake in Saudi Arabian Basic Chemicals, Inc.
• Trial counsel for Anthem in government challenge to Anthem's proposed acquisition of Cigna.
• Counsel to Saudi Aramco in its $3 billion acquisition of the global lubricants business of Valvoline, Inc.
• Counsel for Vertex Pharmaceuticals in substantial asset acquisition from Concert Pharmaceuticals. 
• Counsel to Elanco Animal Health in the sale of its aqua-pharma business to Merck Animal Health.
• Counsel for Aramco Services Company in acquisition of remaining ownership stake in Motiva Enterprises LLC, a major refiner and retail gasoline marketer in the U.S.

Other

• Represented a major financial services firm in connection with claims arising from data breach arising from cyber-attack.
• Represented one of the defendants in litigation accusing numerous corporations of responsibility/complicity in the actions of the apartheid regime in South Africa.