Opinion ID: 1740082
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: Application of the AGC Test.

Text: To determine standing under our antitrust law, we will examine the plaintiff's harm, the alleged wrongdoing by the defendants, and the relationship between them. Associated Gen. Contractors, 459 U.S. at 535, 103 S.Ct. at 907, 74 L.Ed.2d at 736. In Associated General Contractors, the Court focused on five factors to guide its examination: (1) whether the claim alleges a causal connection between the antitrust violation and the plaintiff's alleged harm; (2) whether the plaintiff's alleged injury is of a type sought to be redressed by the antitrust laws; (3) the directness or indirectness of the asserted injury; (4) whether denying a remedy is likely to leave a significant antitrust violation undetected or unremedied; and (5) whether the damages claimed are highly speculative or abstract. Id. at 536-45, 103 S.Ct. at 908-12, 74 L.Ed.2d at 737-43. We think the district court properly applied these factors in deciding the plaintiffs had no standing under Iowa's competition law. It is not disputed the plaintiffs have alleged a causal connection between the defendants' illegal conduct and the plaintiffs' alleged injuries. On the other hand, the plaintiffs are neither consumers of the defendants' products nor competitors of the defendants. Therefore, the plaintiffs are not participants in the relevant market, and their injuries are not of the type sought to be compensated by antitrust laws. Id. at 538, 103 S.Ct. at 908-09, 74 L.Ed.2d at 738. Clearly, the injuries alleged by the plaintiffs are not even indirect, as the plaintiffs are not in the chain of distribution. Their injuries are better described as derivative. Denying a remedy will not leave the alleged antitrust violation undetected or unremedied. Indeed, the action brought by merchants against Visa and MasterCard was settled by the defendants' payment of more than three billion dollars into a settlement fund and an agreement to abandon the alleged tying arrangements. See In re Visa Check/MasterMoney Antitrust Litig., 297 F.Supp.2d at 506-09. Finally, a determination of the plaintiffs' damages would be a complex process at best and speculative at worst because many factors impact a retailer's decision-making process when setting prices on products sold to consumers. Considering the AGC factors, we hold the district court properly determined the plaintiffs' injuries were too remote to be compensable under Iowa's competition law. See Kanne, 723 N.W.2d at 298-99 (affirming dismissal of identical action brought under Nebraska antitrust law, holding consumers' injuries were too remote under AGC test); Ho v. Visa U.S.A., Inc., 16 A.D.3d 256, 793 N.Y.S.2d 8, 9 (2005) (same).