Efforts to influence legislative, executive, administrative, or judicial action are immune even where anticompetitively motivated. The sham exception applies where the petitioning is objectively baseless and conceals an attempt to interfere directly.
The doctrine derives from the First Amendment.
Alternative Names:
Noerr-Pennington|Petitioning Immunity
Why it Matters?
The sham exception requires objective baselessness first, and PRE established that a lawsuit with any objectively reasonable basis is immune regardless of subjective intent, which forecloses the exception in most litigation-based claims. Serial petitioning theories arguing that a pattern of filings constitutes a sham face circuit division. The doctrine also protects standard-setting participation and regulatory advocacy.
Frequently Confused with
Related terms
Frequently asked questions
What does the sham exception require?
What else does the doctrine protect?
