Judge Mehta, who is overseeing the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) antitrust lawsuit against Google said he hoped to set an initial schedule for the case in December, reported the Wall Street Journal.
During a brief telephone hearing Wednesday, November 18, US District Judge Amit Mehta said he wanted to hammer out a schedule with both sides before the holidays so that Google and the government could begin the process of legal discovery, gathering information, and exchanging materials about evidence that may be presented at trial.
The DOJ sued Google on October 20, alleging the company uses anticompetitive tactics to preserve a monopoly for its flagship search engine and related advertising business. The company denies the allegations, claiming it holds its market position because users like its products and services.
Google lawyer John Schmidtlein said Wednesday that the search giant needed more information quickly about the materials the Justice Department has already gathered during its more than yearlong investigation, especially what was produced to the government by third-party companies. Until Google has that information, it will have a hard time committing to how much time it will need to prepare its defense, Mr. Schmidtlein said.
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