A US choose on Thursday dismissed a lawsuit in opposition to Meta Platforms Inc that alleged its Facebook social media enterprise drove a now-defunct picture software program utility startup out of enterprise in violation of federal antitrust legislation.
US District Judge Kiyo Matsumoto in Brooklyn, New York, federal courtroom mentioned in her 67-page order that Phhhoto Inc had did not well timed deliver its claims below related US antitrust legislation that units a four-year window and below New York state competitors provisions which have a three-year statute of limitation.
“Phhhoto has failed in its 69-page amended complaint of 222 paragraphs to allege sufficient facts that cure the untimeliness of all of its federal claims,” Matsumoto wrote. She mentioned, “no exception applies to toll the limitations periods.”
The courtroom declined to permit Phhhoto to fine-tune its case and produce one other criticism.
Lawyers for Phhhoto at plaintiffs’ agency Hausfeld didn’t instantly reply to a message searching for touch upon Thursday.
In a press release, a Meta spokesperson described the swimsuit as “meritless.”
Phhhoto launched in 2014, offering an app that mentioned it “created a five-frame, looping video.” Meta two years earlier had acquired photo-sharing app Instagram for $1 billion (roughly Rs. 8,820 crore).
Phhhoto’s lawsuit, filed in 2021, alleged Facebook aimed to “crush” the photo-sharing utility, which referred to as itself in courtroom filings “an innovative nascent competitor.”
“Meta used its control of critical infrastructure to degrade the quality of Phhhoto’s content and the performance of its app, as well as to mislead and harm consumers,” Phhhoto’s attorneys informed the courtroom.
Facebook denied any anticompetitive conduct.
The case was amongst a number of actions accusing Facebook of violating competitors legislation.
Facebook is defending in opposition to claims from the US Federal Trade Commission in Washington, D.C., federal courtroom that the firm abused its private social networking dominance.
© Thomson Reuters 2023
