Michelle Miller is a partner in the firm's Regulatory and Government Affairs and Litigation/Controversy Departments, a co-chair of the Antitrust and Competition Practice Group, and a member of the Government and Regulatory Litigation and Intellectual Property Litigation Practice Groups. Ms. Miller also has served as vice chair of the Litigation Department. She joined the firm in 1980.
Practice
Ms. Miller concentrates her practice on antitrust litigation and on advising clients on antitrust compliance issues and strategies for avoiding litigation. In addition to litigating in federal and state courts, Ms. Miller represents clients before the Federal Trade Commission and the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice in connection with mergers and other government investigations.
Ms. Miller has represented clients in litigation involving:
Monopolization Claims
- Braintree Laboratories, Inc. v. Schwarz Pharma, Inc. and related cases. Successfully defended a branded pharmaceutical company through trial in the US District Court for the District of Delaware with respect to an antitrust counterclaim arising from the company's assertion of patent infringement claims against a generic competitor. The case is presently on appeal to the Federal Circuit, and follow-on antitrust claims by putative classes of direct and indirect purchasers have been stayed.
- Research in Motion Ltd., et al. v. Motorola, Inc. Asserting claims under Section 2 of the Sherman Act and for breach of contract arising out of a competitor’s refusal to license standards-essential patents on fair reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms
- Cephalon/Provigil Settlements. Defending a branded pharmaceutical company against claims by the Federal Trade Commission, direct and indirect purchasers, and a competitor under the FTC Act and Sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act arising out of the settlement of patent infringement claims against would-be generic competitors
- DIK Drug Company v. Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, Inc., et al. and related cases. Defending a branded pharmaceutical company against claims by a putative class of direct and indirect purchasers alleging that the company’s patent infringement suit against a generic competitor under the Hatch-Waxman Act is objectively baseless
- Northland Cranberries, Inc. v. Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc. Defended a cooperative of cranberry producers against claims of conspiracy and monopolization asserted by competitors, a class of California consumers, and a national class of consumers for the remaining 49 states
- Nikon Corporation v. ASM Lithography B.V. Asserted, on behalf of a manufacturer of microlithography tools, an antitrust counterclaim arising from a competitor's attempted enforcement of patents allegedly obtained by fraud on the Patent Office
- Comverse Network Systems, Inc. v. Priority Call Management, Inc. Defended a telecommunications technology firm against an antitrust counterclaim arising from the company's enforcement of its patent in the underlying infringement lawsuit
- Addamax Corp. v. Open Software Foundation, Inc. Defended a joint venture of computer hardware vendors through trial in the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts against claims of monopolization, group boycott and price fixing
Price-Fixing/Market Allocation Claims
- Outokumpu Oyj/Carrier Corporation and Class Actions. Prevailed, on behalf of a major European copper producer, on a motion to dismiss claims of price fixing and market allocation arising out of cartel proceedings before the European Commission
- Ciardi v. BASF Corporation. Defended a manufacturer of vitamin products in a class action by indirect purchasers asserting claims of industry-wide price-fixing and market allocation
- Sweeney v. BASF Corporation. Defended a manufacturer of magnetic audio tape in a class action by indirect purchasers asserting a claim of industry-wide price fixing
- Ursus, Inc. v. RSA Security, Inc. Defended a vendor of computer security solutions in connection with price-fixing, market allocation and breach of contract claims asserted by a terminated distributor
Unfair Competition and Other Claims
- General Insulation Company v. John Manville Corporation. Defended a manufacturer of insulation products in connection with unfair competition claims asserted by a terminated distributor
- Bussie v. Allmerica Financial Corporation. Defended an insurance company in a class action alleging unfair sales practices, including the marketing of so-called "vanishing premium" policies
- In re Microsoft Corporation. Represented the European Commission in federal courts in Massachusetts, New York and California against Microsoft’s attempt to use US courts to circumvent EU confidentiality rules in the Commission’s investigation as to whether Microsoft had complied with its disclosure obligations under the Commission’s order requiring Microsoft to share interoperability data with rivals
Ms. Miller has obtained HSR clearance in the following transactions:
- Applix/Cognos. Represented a vendor of business intelligence and performance management solutions in connection with its sale to a competitor
- SkillSoft/NETg. Represented a company providing e-learning training materials in connection with its acquisition of a competitor
- Akamai/Speedera. Represented a company providing web content delivery services in connection with the acquisition of a competitor
- Dragon Systems/Lernout and Hauspie. Represented a speech recognition software company in connection with its acquisition by another vendor of speech software
- Williams Holdings PLC. Represented an overseas holding company in connection with its sale of several door hardware companies to a firm that owns several other door hardware companies
In advising clients on antitrust matters, Ms. Miller has been instrumental in the formation and ongoing operations of several high-technology joint ventures. Among those she has represented are:
- The Travel Partnership Corporation, an entity formed to sponsor a new top-level Internet domain for the travel industry
- The Structural Genomics Consortium, a joint venture of major pharmaceutical companies and other industry participants formed to generate three dimensional structures of proteins encoded by the human genome
- The SNP Consortium Ltd., a joint venture of major pharmaceutical companies and other industry participants formed to create a high-density single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) map of a portion of a human genome
- The ATM Forum, a group of telecommunications equipment vendors and service providers engaged in promoting Asychronous Transfer Mode (ATM) technology and applications, based on national and international standards
- The Open Group, a joint venture of computer hardware and software vendors engaged in joint research and development of operating-system software, and development of industry-standard specifications
- The Petrotechnical Open Software Consortium (POSC), a joint venture formed to provide an open, integrated software platform to the exploration and production segments of the petroleum industry
- The Bankers' Roundtable, an association of financial institutions engaged in various industry initiatives, including a study of the privacy and security requirements of electronic banking
- The Silicon Integration Initiative (Si2), a consortium formed to provide collaborative technology and services that enable higher levels of semiconductor design integration, leading to industry-accepted standards
Professional Activities
Ms. Miller is a member of the Litigation and Antitrust Sections of the American Bar Association. She is a former Co-Chair of the Antitrust Committee of the Boston Bar Association.
Honors and Awards
Publications and Papers
On behalf of PhRMA, Ms. Miller prepared a white paper for submission to the European Commission in connection with the pharmaceutical sector inquiry on the topic of FTC challenges of settlements between branded and generic drug companies
Speaking Engagements
Ms. Miller has taught various continuing legal education courses, such as "Antitrust Basics" (MCLE), "Class Action Practice in Massachusetts and Federal Court" (MCLE), "Class Action Roundtable" (MCLE), and a panel sponsored by the Antitrust Section of the American Bar Association, entitled "Effective Discovery in Large Antitrust Cases" (ABA Antitrust Litigation Course)
