DuPont headquarters at Chestnut Run Plaza. Photo: Littleinfo via Wikimedia Commons

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit on Wednesday denied Valspar Corp.'s request for an en banc rehearing of a decision to toss a $176 million antitrust lawsuit accusing DuPont of conspiring to fix the price of a paint ingredient.

Judge Thomas Hardiman said in a one-page order that the court declined to revisit a split decision from October affirming a lower court's ruling that Valspar failed to prove the Wilmington-based chemical giant engaged in a scheme with competitors to fix the price of titanium dioxide.

Attorneys for Valspar had petitioned for a rehearing before the whole court, saying the opinion ”eviscerates” antitrust protections by establishing an “unprecedented summary judgment standard for plaintiffs trying to prove a price-fixing conspiracy” in the appeals court.