Optical Disc Drive Products Antitrust Litigation

The following statement is being issued by Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP regarding the In re Optical Disk Drive Products Antitrust Litigation.

Important notice from the United States District Court for the Northern District of California about a class action settlement.

Did you buy a computer with an internal or external disk drive between 2003-2008?

If yes, you can get up to $10/drive back from a $25 million class action settlement.

Fill out the form at www.dollarsfordiskdrives.com. The settlement is in addition to $180 million already recovered on behalf of class members in settlements with other defendants.

Plaintiffs have reached a proposed settlement with Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., Toshiba Corporation, and Toshiba Samsung Storage Technology Corporation in a class action alleging that optical disc drive (ODD) manufacturers conspired to stabilize pricing of ODDs during the period of April 2003 to December 2008.

ODDs were popular in the 1990s and 2000s for storing data, music, and other multimedia files. They were sold both inside computers and also as standalone devices.

For this settlement, the ODDs that are eligible for a payment are DVD-RW, DVD-ROM, and combo drives. In other words, all DVD drives are included, but solo CD drives are not eligible.

The purpose of this notice is to inform of the class and proposed settlement so that you may decide what to do. If you already submitted a claim for one of the prior settlements in this case, you do not need to submit another one. You will receive an automatic payment.

You may also choose to exclude yourself from the settlement, object to the settlement, or object to the payment of attorneys’ fees.

You are included in this settlement if:

You purchased a new computer with an ODD, or a standalone ODD designed to be used in a computer or attached to a computer.
You were a resident of one of the following states when you made the purchase: Arizona, California, District of Columbia, Florida, Hawaii, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia, or Wisconsin.
You made the purchase between April 2003 and December 2008.
The ODD was a DVD-RW, DVD-ROM, or combo drive.
You did not make the purchase directly from an ODD manufacturer (a list of manufacturers may be found at https://www.dollarsfordiskdrives.com). Panasonic-branded computers are also excluded.

Claim forms are due June 28, 2019. Requests to exclude yourself from the settlement are due December 17, 2018. Plaintiffs’ counsel will file their motion for attorneys’ fees and post it to the website by December 3, 2018. Any objections to the settlement or attorneys fees are due December 17, 2018.

The Court will hold a Final Approval Hearing on February 4, 2019 unless otherwise ordered by the Court at the United States District Court, 450 Golden Gate Ave, San Francisco, CA, Courtroom 3 – 17th Floor, to consider whether to approve or deny the settlement with SEC, Toshiba Corp., and TSST and a request for attorneys’ fees up to 20% of the Settlement Funds plus costs and expenses. You may appear at the Final Approval Hearing either in person or through your own attorney.

The Hearing may be moved to a different date or time without additional notice.