Visa 2012 Annual Report Download - page 110

Table of Contents VISA INC.
NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS—(Continued)
September 30, 2012
dismiss at a hearing on May 14, 2010, and entered an order and judgment dismissing the case on June 9, 2010. The plaintiff filed a
notice of appeal from that order and judgment on June 14, 2010. On April 18, 2012, the state appellate court affirmed the trial
court's dismissal of the case. In California, in the consolidated Credit/Debit Card Tying Cases , the court dismissed claims brought
under the Cartwright Act, but denied a similar motion with respect to Unfair Competition Law claims for unlawful, unfair and/or
fraudulent business practices. On October 31, 2007, the court denied the plaintiffs' motion to give collateral estoppel effect to
certain elements of their “tying” claim based on statements in the ruling on cross-motions for summary judgment in In re Visa
Check/MasterMoney Antitrust Litigation . On October 3, 2008, the parties agreed to confidential settlement terms to resolve the
dispute. A written settlement agreement executed on September 14, 2009, was submitted to the court for approval. After the parties
amended the settlement agreement in certain respects, the court entered an order preliminarily approving the settlement on
January 5, 2010 and entered an order granting final approval on August 23, 2010. The plaintiff in Attridge , who had filed objections
to the settlement, filed a notice of appeal from the final approval order, as have other objectors to the settlement. The amount of the
settlement is not considered material to the consolidated financial statements.
On January 9, 2012, the Court of Appeal of the State of California reversed the judgment approving the settlement agreement,
and the case was remanded to the trial court for consideration of the fairness and adequacy of the settlement in light of the
inclusion of the Attridge claims in the release. Attridge filed a motion to disqualify the trial judge in the Credit/Debit Card Tying
Cases , which was granted. On June 4, 2012, the court issued an order reassigning the case to the Honorable John E. Munter, the
same judge in the Attridge case.
The parties subsequently agreed upon a revised written settlement agreement, which was submitted to the court for
preliminary approval on August 20, 2012 and executed as of September 6, 2012.
Vale Canjeable.
On November 21, 2006, Vale Canjeable Ticketven, C.A. filed an action in the Fifth Municipal Court of Caracas
(“Fifth Municipal court”), Venezuela against Todoticket 2004, C.A., and Visa International seeking a preliminary injunction
preventing use of the Visa Vale mark in Venezuela. On November 29, 2006, the Fifth Municipal court granted a preliminary
injunction prohibiting defendants' use of “Vale” in the Venezuelan market of food vouchers. Visa filed a constitutional objection to
that ruling on December 6, 2006. The objection was dismissed, and Visa appealed the decision through the appellate courts.
After all appeals to the lower appellate courts had been rejected, on March 14, 2008, Visa filed an extraordinary appeal of the
preliminary injunction ruling with the Commercial Chamber of the Supreme Court (the “Supreme Court”). On August 6, 2008, the
Supreme Court ruled in Visa's favor, declared the lower court's decision null and void, and remanded the case to the appellate
court. Following the Supreme Court's order, on March 25, 2009, the First Commercial Judge of Appeals of Caracas issued a new
decision, affirming the preliminary injunction and finding Visa and Todoticket liable for legal fees and costs in connection with the
appeal. On July 9, 2009, Visa filed a further appeal, and on December 10, 2009, the Supreme Court again decided in Visa's favor,
overturning the appellate ruling. The Supreme Court ordered a new appellate judge to consider the preliminary injunction that
prevented Visa from using the Visa Vale trademark in Venezuela. On August 10, 2011, the court rejected Visa's appeal of the
preliminary injunction and ordered the defendants to pay costs.
In parallel to this proceeding, in December 2006, the plaintiff also filed a claim with the Fourth Commercial Court of First
Instance of Caracas (“First Instance court”),
alleging that the defendants infringed the plaintiff's rights as the holder of the trademark
registries and requesting declarative, injunctive and monetary relief. On September 25, 2007, Visa's request for removal of the First
Instance judge from the case was granted. A new judge was assigned to finalize the discovery phase of the case. On February 11,
2010, the First Instance court dismissed in its entirety the plaintiff's claim against Visa and other defendants for damages based on
trademark infringement. The plaintiff appealed. On August 10, 2011, the appellate court overturned the First Instance court's
dismissal in part. The court refused to award plaintiff any damages or costs, but enjoined Visa and Todoticket from using the
expression “Vale” in the Venezuelan food voucher market.
Visa filed extraordinary appeals of both August 10 rulings with the Supreme Court.
European Interchange Proceedings. On April 3, 2009, the European Commission issued a Statement of Objections (“SO”) to
Visa Europe, Visa International and Visa Inc. alleging a breach of European competition law. Visa Inc. and Visa International were
served with the Statement of Objections on June 1, 2009. The SO alleged a
107