CDK Global Seeks Dismissal of Monopoly Claims in Antitrust Suit Brought by Software Rival Over Automotive Dealership Platform Access
CDK Global, a dominant provider of dealer management system (DMS) software used by automotive dealerships across the US, is seeking to have monopoly claims cut from an antitrust suit brought by a software rival. The case, filed in a US federal court and reported by Law360, centres on allegations that CDK has used its control of DMS platform access to exclude competing software integrators — a pattern of conduct the claimant characterises as unlawful monopolisation under US antitrust law. CDK's motion to dismiss targets the monopoly claims specifically, suggesting a litigation strategy focused on narrowing the scope of liability rather than seeking full dismissal. Platform access disputes of this type raise issues highly relevant to UK and EU technology competition law: the question of whether a dominant software platform is obliged to provide interoperability access to rivals sits at the heart of the EU Digital Markets Act (DMA) and the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA)'s ongoing digital markets work under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (DMCCA). While this case is US-domestic, the legal theory — lock-in via proprietary platform integration — is directly analogous to disputes the CMA is actively investigating in UK digital markets.
Why this matters
Software platform access disputes are an emerging frontier in technology antitrust, and the CDK case illustrates the legal theory that UK and EU regulators are increasingly scrutinising under the DMCCA and DMA respectively: that dominant platform operators use proprietary integration requirements to exclude rivals and entrench market power. For City competition lawyers advising technology companies, understanding how platform interoperability obligations are framed — and how they interact with competition law's essential facilities doctrine — is increasingly central. The CDK litigation also raises technology licensing and data access issues that would arise in any equivalent UK proceedings. No UK advisers are named in the source, but the legal theory is directly portable to ongoing CMA digital markets investigations.
On the Ground
On a competition law or digital markets matter, a trainee would assist with compliance gap analysis memos — assessing how a client's platform access policies compare against obligations under the DMCCA or DMA — and draft regulatory notification documents for CMA market investigations. Vendor due diligence questionnaires on technology licence terms and API (application programming interface) access conditions are a common trainee task in technology M&A or regulatory review contexts.
Interview prep
Soundbite
Platform lock-in via proprietary DMS integration is the same legal theory driving CMA digital markets investigations — US litigation maps directly onto UK enforcement priorities.
Question you might get
“Under the UK's Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, how would the CMA assess whether a dominant software platform is obliged to provide interoperability access to rivals, and what remedies could it impose?”
Full answer
CDK Global is fighting to have monopoly claims dismissed from a suit brought by a rival software company alleging it abused its dominant position over dealership management system integration to exclude competitors. The legal theory — that proprietary platform access controls constitute unlawful monopolisation — mirrors the exact concerns animating the CMA's work under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 and the EU's Digital Markets Act. For competition lawyers at City firms, this is a live illustration of how software interoperability disputes generate complex antitrust litigation, and how platform operators face parallel exposure in the US, UK, and EU. The CDK case is a useful study in how dominant incumbents structure their platform access terms and the litigation risk that creates.
My notes
saved