Win on Motion to Dismiss in Putative Privacy Class Action

The Situation

PubMatic, Inc. is a publicly traded technology company that provides a cloud-based supply-side platform (SSP) enabling publishers to automate and optimize the sale of advertising inventory to advertisers and demand-side platforms in real time. In mid-2025, PubMatic was named as defendant in a putative privacy class action filed in the Northern District of California, arising from alleged practices in its programmatic advertising operations. The complaint asserted that PubMatic unlawfully tracked and shared user information without consent and, in some iterations, characterized those activities as improper “data brokerage”—a novel theory brought against an adtech provider at the pleading stage.

This lawsuit posed potential industry-wide implications because similar claims have been lodged against adtech companies, and courts are still shaping the standards for privacy litigation involving real-time programmatic advertising and data transmission.

The Approach

The Mintz team developed and pursued a targeted defense strategy focused on demonstrating that the plaintiff’s allegations failed as a matter of law to state plausible privacy violations against PubMatic’s operations. Drawing on the firm’s deep experience in data privacy litigation and cybersecurity defense, Mintz:

• Challenged the legal sufficiency of the complaint under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), emphasizing the lack of legally cognizable harm or statutory violation tied to PubMatic’s conduct;
• Argued that the plaintiff’s novel theories could not survive threshold plausibility review, given established privacy standards and the technical nature of programmatic advertising; and
• Advocated that transmission of data as part of real-time advertising transactions does not, without more, constitute unlawful interception, unauthorized disclosure, or improper brokerage under applicable privacy statutes.

Throughout, the defense reflected Mintz’s capability to blend technology insight, privacy law expertise, and litigation acumen to address cutting-edge claims in high-stakes contexts.

The Outcome

Mintz secured a successful motion to dismiss the putative privacy class action complaint against PubMatic at the pleading stage, halting the case before burdensome discovery and class certification proceedings could begin. This result preserved PubMatic’s resources, lowered litigation risk, and affirmed defensible legal boundaries for privacy claims against programmatic advertising platforms. The successful dismissal highlights Mintz’s ability to defend complex technology companies against emerging, high-impact privacy theories, and deliver strategic, precedent-shaping defense solutions in fast-evolving regulatory and judicial landscapes.