Holiday Matinee, Inc. v. Rambus, Inc.

This consumer class action arises out of alleged anticompetitive conduct in connection with patents on certain computer memory chip technology obtained by defendant and respondent, Rambus, Inc. (Rambus). Plaintiff and appellant Holiday Matinee, Inc. (Holiday) alleged three causes of action in its second amended complaint (Complaint): a claim for violation of the Cartwright Act (Bus. & Prof. Code § 16720 et seq.); a claim for violation of California’s unfair competition law (Bus. & Prof. Code, § 17200 et seq.); and a claim for unjust enrichment.

The case is before us as a result of a stipulated judgment of dismissal that was entered after the court below sustained Rambus’s demurrer to each cause of action of the Complaint. Rambus’s challenges to the Complaint included lack of subject matter jurisdiction, litigation privilege (Civ. Code, § 47, subd. (b)), privilege under the Noerr-Pennington doctrine, and failure to allege facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action. Holiday contends that the trial court erred in concluding that the Complaint failed to allege facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action.

For the reasons stated below, we conclude that the trial…