T-Mobile/Sprint Claims vs. DT Are Dismissed for Lack of Personal Jurisdiction

The parties in the suit to vacate T-Mobile’s 2020 Sprint buy on antitrust grounds agree to dismiss all claims against Deutsche Telekom for lack of personal jurisdiction and improper venue, said a stipulated order Thursday (docket 1:22-cv-03189) signed by U.S. District Judge Thomas Durkin for Northern Illinois in Chicago. Durkin previously dismissed all claims against SoftBank (see 2303130006), and his reasoning concerning the lack of personal jurisdiction and improper venue “applies equally to DT as it did to SoftBank,” said the order. Should the portion of the dismissal order granting the SoftBank motion to dismiss be reversed and remanded to Durkin's court for further proceedings against SoftBank, then that reversal and remand shall apply equally to DT, it said. The dismissal with prejudice on personal jurisdiction and venue grounds shall then “be deemed vacated, and the parties restored to their respective positions immediately before this stipulation,” it said. In such event, DT shall have the right to file a motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6), it said. Seven consumers, all AT&T or Verizon customers, brought the lawsuit in June 2022 to vacate T-Mobile/Sprint, alleging the transaction stifled competition, causing their own wireless rates to skyrocket (see 2210110003).