The suit claims that Google’s illegal actions included giving Google Play preferential treatment over rivals on its Google Search engine, using its Android operating system to require device manufacturers and mobile network operators to favor Google’s search and web browser products, and using its dominance in online search advertising to force third-party websites to enter into exclusivity agreements.
In addition to Alphabet and the aforementioned executives, the suit names the company’s CEO Sundar Pichai and board members L. John Doerr, John L. Hennessy, Ann Mather, Alan Mulally, Shirley M. Tilghman, and K. Ram Shriram.
A lawyer for Alphabet and the individual defendants, Boris Feldman of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, told the panel on Tuesday that his clients did not take any unlawful actions and were challenging the fines imposed over the purported violations of European law.
Feldman also argued that he couldn’t find any derivative suit involving antitrust violations in which a court waived the requirement that shareholders submit a demand to the board before suing.
