Highmark, Inc. v. UPMC Health Plan, Inc.,
No. 01-1377 (3d Cir. Dec. 21, 2001)

An insurance company sued a competitor seeking injunctive relief and damages. The insurance company claimed that its competitor ran a full page ad in a local newspaper which contained numerous false and misleading statements about the insurance company's health plans. The district court denied the competitor's motion to dismiss and ordered the competitor to cease and desist the use of the ad and all materials that used similar statements deemed false and misleading. The competitor appealed.

The United States Court of Appeals, Third Circuit, affirmed the district court's ruling. First, the court found numerous ways that the ad affected interstate commerce, including the fact that the newspaper was distributed outside the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and that people outside of Pennsylvania were covered by the health plans. Second, the court ruled that the federal law and state laws governing this matter did not conflict and, therefore, federal jurisdiction was appropriate. The court further held that the district court did not abuse its discretion in granting the injunction.