No. 25-1358October Term 2025Before Arguments
NHK Spring Co., Ltd., et al., Petitioners v. Seagate Technology LLC, et al.
from the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Case status
- Current stage
- Before Arguments
- Latest event
- Accepted by the Court
- Decision timing
- No window until argument is scheduled.
- What it's about
from the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Question presented
Whether domestic negotiations are sufficient to bring foreign injuries from allegedly price-fixed foreign transactions within the reach of the Sherman Act, even where those negotiations have no intervening “effect . . . on trade or commerce which is not trade or commerce with foreign nations.” 15 U.S.C. § 6a(1)(A).
- Case path
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit / Accepted by the Court
- Area
Supreme Court case awaiting argument
Timing
Expected by late June 2026, if argued this term
The Court granted review but has not yet scheduled oral argument. Once argued, the median case reaches a decision in 94 days. Nearly all cases are decided by the end of the term in which they are argued.
Briefing
What it's about
NHK Spring asks the Supreme Court to review a Ninth Circuit case about overseas sales and U.S. antitrust law. The dispute is whether price negotiations in the United States, by themselves, can let foreign buyers sue over injuries tied to foreign transactions.
Argument
The case is at the petition stage. The Court has not scheduled oral argument, and no substantive justice or advocate reactions are available yet.
Impact
The answer could change the legal risk for global companies that discuss prices in the United States but sell goods abroad. For example, a foreign buyer may try to use U.S. antitrust law based on U.S. negotiations even when the sale happened overseas.
What is NHK Spring Co., Ltd. v. Seagate Technology LLC about?
It asks whether U.S. price negotiations alone can make foreign sales and foreign injuries subject to U.S. antitrust law. The case comes from the Ninth Circuit.
Who could be affected if the Court takes this case?
Multinational manufacturers and foreign buyers could be affected. A broader U.S. rule could expose overseas transactions to U.S. antitrust suits when pricing talks happened here.
What happens next in NHK Spring?
The justices must decide whether to grant certiorari (agree to hear the case). No oral argument is scheduled yet.
Related cases
Grounding
- Grounding
- Primary materials plus reporting.
- Note
- Best-effort analysis: this explainer relies on a mix of primary materials and trusted secondary sources. Official filings and opinions remain authoritative.
- Checked
- Jul 17, 2026
- Method
- Methodology