FILE PHOTO: The Google Inc logo is seen outside their headquarters in Mountain View, California August 18, 2004. REUTERS/Clay McLachlan
August 10, 2021
(Corrects throughout to indicate Texas case will be centralized with others and move to the Southern District of New York)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A U.S. judicial panel on Tuesday said that Texas’ antitrust lawsuit against Alphabet’s Google would be moved to the Southern District of New York, where other similar cases would also be heard.
Google had asked that the case, which was filed against it by Texas and other states, be combined with similar cases in U.S. District Court for Northern California.
Texas opposed the move, and the request prompted federal legislation aimed at allowing state attorneys general to choose the venue for their lawsuits.
The panel, which recently heard arguments on the proposed move, said that the Texas case and others involve “common questions of fact, and that centralization in the Southern District of New York will serve the convenience of the parties and witnesses.”
Later the panel says: “We further find that inclusion of the State of Texas action in this MDL (multi-district litigation) is appropriate.”
(Reporting by Diane BartzEditing by Chris Reese and Sonya Hepinstall)
