PepsiCo Wins Motion in Coca-Cola Suit

PepsiCo Inc. notched a victory in the cola wars when a federal judge in New York denied Coca-Cola Co.’s motion to throw out Pepsi’s lawsuit accusing its bigger rival of monopolizing the market for fountain drinks dispensed at movie theaters, restaurants and other outlets. U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska disagreed with Coca-Cola’s arguments that PepsiCo’s lawsuit should be thrown out because it did not properly allege anti-competitive conduct. The ruling opens the door for a trial in which PepsiCo, based in Purchase, N.Y., will have to prove Atlanta-based Coca-Cola is purposely trying to freeze it out of the market. Preska set a pretrial conference for Oct. 2.