AUSTIN - Google has until Friday to respond to a motion seeking to strike its second motion to dismiss an antitrust case brought by several states.
Attorney General Ken Paxton leads a coalition of seventeen states challenging Google’s alleged abuse of its monopoly power in online advertising.
In its first motion to dismiss, Google asserted that the state plaintiffs are responding to the company’s success by seeking to compel it to share with its competitors “the fruits of its investments and innovation.”
Court records show Google filed a second motion on Jan. 16, arguing that the states’ fifth attempt at state-law deceptive trade practices claims should be dismissed.
“In the two-and-a-half years since Plaintiffs filed their first complaint, they have strained to settle on the theories and remedies to pursue, and to this day cannot say precisely whom they represent,” the motion states. “During this time, they have voluntarily amended and changed their DTPA allegations four times, all before any motion to dismiss. The result is the current, sprawling fourth amended complaint in which Plaintiffs try to bootstrap what was originally a federal antitrust case into a common tort case of ‘deception.’
“Plaintiffs’ problem is that none of the conduct they try to paint as deceptive was anything of the sort. As a result, Plaintiffs have not and cannot plead any actionable misrepresentations with the particularity their fraud claims require.”
The states filed their motion to strike on Jan. 19, arguing that Google’s motion is barred under the federal rules, violates the local rule page limits, and was not contemplated under this Court’s scheduling order.
“Under the federal rules, a party can file just one motion to dismiss under Rule 12,” the states’ motion states. “Google simply predicted it could get away with violating the rule. It should not.”
On Jan. 23, the court ordered Google to respond to the motion by Friday, Jan. 26, court records show.
Originally filed in Texas, the Second Circuit transferred the case from New York back to Texas in October, finding that Google did not demonstrate “exceptional circumstances” that would warrant keeping the case in New York.
The case is set for trial on March 31, 2025. The trial is expected to last for four weeks.
Eastern District of Texas case No. 4:20-CV-957-SDJ