American Airlines 2009 Annual Report Download - page 27

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24
On June 20, 2006, DOJ served the Company with a grand jury subpoena as part of an ongoing investigation into
possible criminal violations of the antitrust laws by certain domestic and foreign passenger carriers. At this time,
the Company does not believe it is a target of the DOJ investigation. The Company intends to cooperate fully with
this investigation. On September 4, 2007, the Attorney General of the State of Florida served the Company with a
Civil Investigative Demand as part of its investigation of possible violations of federal and Florida antitrust laws
regarding the pricing of air passenger transportation. In the event that this or other investigations uncover
violations of the U.S. antitrust laws or the competition laws of some other jurisdiction, such findings and related
legal proceedings could have a material adverse impact on the Company.
Approximately 52 purported class action lawsuits have been filed in the U.S. against the Company and certain
foreign and domestic air carriers alleging that the defendants violated U.S. antitrust laws by illegally conspiring to
set prices and surcharges for passenger transportation. On October 25, 2006, these cases, along with other
purported class action lawsuits in which the Company was not named, were consolidated in the United States
District Court for the Northern District of California as In re International Air Transportation Surcharge Antitrust
Litigation, Civ. No. 06-1793 (the Passenger MDL). On July 9, 2007, the Company was named as a defendant in
the Passenger MDL. On August 25, 2008, the plaintiffs dismissed their claims against the Company in this action.
On March 13, 2008, and March 14, 2008, two additional purported class action complaints, Turner v. American
Airlines, et al., Civ. No. 08-1444 (N.D. Cal.), and LaFlamme v. American Airlines, et al., Civ. No. 08-1079
(E.D.N.Y.), were filed against the Company, alleging that the Company violated U.S. antitrust laws by illegally
conspiring to set prices and surcharges for passenger transportation in Japan and certain European countries,
respectively. The Turner plaintiffs have failed to perfect service against the Company, and it is unclear whether
they intend to pursue their claims. On February 17, 2009, the LaFlamme plaintiffs agreed to dismiss their claims
against the Company without prejudice. In the event that the Turner plaintiffs pursue their claims or the
LaFlamme plaintiffs re-file claims against the Company, the Company will vigorously defend these lawsuits, but
any adverse judgment in these actions could have a material adverse impact on the Company.
On August 21, 2006, a patent infringement lawsuit was filed against American and American Beacon Advisors,
Inc. (then a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company) in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of
Texas (Ronald A. Katz Technology Licensing, L.P. v. American Airlines, Inc., et al.). This case has been
consolidated in the Central District of California for pre-trial purposes with numerous other cases brought by the
plaintiff against other defendants. The plaintiff alleges that American infringes a number of the plaintiff’s patents,
each of which relates to automated telephone call processing systems. The plaintiff is seeking past and future
royalties, injunctive relief, costs and attorneys' fees. On December 1, 2008, the court dismissed with prejudice all
claims against American Beacon. On May 22, 2009, following its granting of summary judgment to American
based on invalidity and non-infringement, the court dismissed all claims against American. Plaintiff filed a notice
of appeal on June 22, 2009 with respect to the court’s ruling for American. Although the Company believes that
the plaintiff’s claims are without merit and is vigorously defending the lawsuit, a final adverse court decision
awarding substantial money damages or placing material restrictions on existing automated telephone call system
operations would have a material adverse impact on the Company.