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Capital One / Discover: Proposed Deal Sparks Antitrust Concerns

Written by Jonathan Rubin, Partner and Co-Founder of MoginRubin LLP Capital One's proposed $35.3 billion acquisition of Discover Financial pits any ...

February 28, 2024
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Cracking the College Sports “Cartel”: Good for Athletes, Competition, and the Games

Editor's Note: This article will appear in the spring issue of the Journal on Emerging Issues in Litigation, published by Fastcase Full Court Press. ...

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February 07, 2024

Verdict: Epic Games Proved Google Unlawfully Maintained Monopoly Over Android App Sales and Payments

By Jonathan Rubin, Partner, MoginRubin LLP A San Francisco jury has found that Google monopolized the “Android app distribution” market and “Android ...

December 14, 2023
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Algorithmic Pricing Agents and Price-Fixing Facilitators: Antitrust Law's Latest Conundrum

Written by Jonathan Rubin, Partner and Co-Founder of MoginRubin LLP It is an application of artificial intelligence (“AI”) that many businesses, ...

November 17, 2023

FTC's Amazon Antitrust Case: Market Definitions and Section 5 of the FTC Act

The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) and 17 state attorneys general on September 26th filed their long-awaited antitrust complaint against Amazon.com ...

September 27, 2023
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Agencies' Amgen Settlement Won't Protect Competition in Drug Industry

The Federal Trade Commission and attorneys general from six states – California, Illinois, Minnesota, New York, Washington, and Wisconsin – joined in ...

September 12, 2023

Suit Revived Against Monopolist that Foreclosed Market Through Threats

The Tenth Circuit U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has revived a 2019 antitrust lawsuit against Berkshire Hathaway’s Johns Manville (JM) by rival ...

August 30, 2023

Amazon Investors Critical of Company's Competitive Tactics

Amazon Inc. investors have delivered company leadership a suit for exposing the corporation to a “massive financial hit” caused by news of alleged ...

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DOJ Antitrust Division May Sue to Split Live Nation/Ticketmaster

Following its ten-month investigation, the United States Department of Justice appears on the verge of filing an antitrust suit against Live Nation, ...

August 09, 2023

EU Updates Guidance on Antitrust Risks Posed by ESG Collaboration

Scrutiny of companies’ environmental, social, and governance (ESG) policies increasingly affects how companies do business, even firms with no clear ...

June 21, 2023
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Judge Calls American Airlines-JetBlue Alliance a Naked Restraint of Trade

U.S. Judge Leo T. Sorokin has permanently enjoined American Airlines and JetBlue from continuing their Northeast Alliance (“NEA”), in which the judge ...

June 08, 2023
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Battery Merger Shows Shortcomings in Antitrust Policy, Critics Say  

Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and 10 consumer advocacy groups, including the American Economic Liberties Project, Public Citizen, and the Open Markets ...

Authority Designed to Protect Horses Held Constitutional by Federal Judge in Texas

Photo by Pietro Mattia via Unsplash. What entity gets oversight of the health and safety of thoroughbred racehorses? With seven horse deaths in the ...

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Tempur Sealy Acquisition of Mattress Firm: A Vertical Bridge Too Far for the FTC?

In a deal announced on May 9, Tempur Sealy International, Inc., the world’s largest mattress manufacturer, has agreed to acquire Houston-based ...

Ninth Circuit Affirms Epic's Loss Against Apple via Flawed Analysis of Antitrust Law

On April 24, 2023, a three-judge panel from the Ninth Circuit largely affirmed a district court’s judgment following a bench trial that Epic Games, ...

Ideology or Antitrust? U.S. FTC and U.K. CMA Move to Block Microsoft / Activision Deal

On April 26, 2023, the U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority (“CMA”) announced its decision to block Microsoft’s purchase of global gaming leader, ...

DOJ Fighting for E-Sports Player Compensation

The Biden administration continues its campaign against wage suppression as a source of harm to workers, competitive markets, and the economy. In its ...

EC Tells Broadcom Acquiring VMware Would Hurt Hardware Competition

On April 12, 2023, the European Commission informed Broadcom Inc. of its preliminary view that its proposed acquisition of VMware Inc. may harm ...

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FTC Files Brief in Support of Private Antitrust Case Against Makers of Parkinson’s Drug

The Federal Trade Commission recently filed an amicus brief in support of a generic drug maker’s antitrust case involving Apokyn®, a drug developed ...

In Reversal of ALJ, FTC Commissioners Order Illumina to Unwind GRAIL Deal

In a unanimous bipartisan decision, the Federal Trade Commission released an opinion Monday (April 3, 2023) finding Illumina’s $8 billion acquisition ...

Kroger-Albertsons Merger Faces Additional Headwinds

Photo by Alexandru Tugui on Unsplash Roughly five months after announcing the largest merger in retail grocer history, Kroger and Albertsons are ...

Amazon Fails for Second Time to Dismiss Majority of Antitrust Claims

Photo by Super Straho on Unsplash For the second time in a year, Amazon lost its bid to toss an antitrust action brought by online consumers ...

Second Circuit Affirms $5.6B Settlement of Antitrust Claims in Merchants’ Credit Card Fee Case

Photo by Blake Wisz on Unsplash The Second Circuit affirmed a district court’s approval of a $5.6 billion settlement in a Sherman Act antitrust case ...

March 27, 2023

Broadcom Acquisition of VMware Increasingly Unlikely to Close

Photo by Taylor Vick on Unsplash Following its Phase 1 investigation, the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) determined Broadcom Inc.’s ...

Judge Approves $25M Settlement of Antitrust Action Against J&J for Allegedly Blocking Biosimilars

Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash U.S. Judge Karen Spencer Martson of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania approved on March 15, 2023, a ...

Pfizer Expands Cancer Drug Portfolio with $43 Billion Biotech Acquisition

Photo of cervical cancer cells by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash Pfizer Inc. announced on March 13 plans to acquire cancer drug maker Seagen ...

Khan's FTC Reportedly Reviving Price Discrimination Law to Investigate What Big Retailers Pay for Cola

Beverage aisle at Pennsylvania Costco March 2023. Photo by Jane Hagy. The Federal Trade Commission has reportedly launched an investigation to ...

March 17, 2023
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Second Circuit Reaffirms Association Rules are Concerted Conduct Subject to Section 1

Photo by Nathan Rogers on Unsplash On March 7, 2023, the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals revived an antitrust lawsuit brought by Relevant Sports ...

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“You’re on Your Own, Kid” – Swifties’ Antitrust Class Action Against Ticketmaster Sent to Arbitration

Image: March 7, 2023, screen capture of Ticketmaster notices re Taylor Swift tickets. Live music fans have been dealt another setback in their war on ...

March 08, 2023
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FTC Drops Challenge to Meta’s Acquisition of Virtual Reality Fitness Company After Court Denies Preliminary Injunction

Photo by Maxim Hopman on Unsplash The FTC has decided to abandon its challenge to Meta Platforms Inc.’s acquisition of virtual reality (VR) exercise ...

February 21, 2023
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FTC Raises Threshold for HSR Merger Reporting by a Record $10.4 Million

Photo by Marquise Kamanke on Unsplash What's Happening On January 23, 2023, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) announced the Hart-Scott-Rodino ...

February 03, 2023
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Southwest Airlines' December Debacle Fuels Anti-Merger Campaign Against the Industry

Photo by Owen Lystrup on Unsplash Christmas 2022 was bedlam for thousands of travelers as Southwest Airlines cancelled 16,700 flights amid severe ...

January 18, 2023

Proposed FTC Rule Would Ban Noncompete Clauses in Employment Contracts

Photo by Israel Adnrade on Unsplash The Federal Trade Commission has proposed a rule that would ban most non-compete clauses in employment contracts, ...

January 13, 2023

FTC Orders Mastercard to Stop Using eWallet Tokenization to Avoid Pro-Competitive Routing Rules

Photo by CardMapr.nl on Unsplash Mastercard has entered into a consent order with the Federal Trade Commission following the Commission’s ...

January 12, 2023
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An Unstoppable Force Meets an Immovable Object: Microsoft to Fight FTC Over Activision Deal

If anyone knows the workings of Washington’s antitrust machinery, it’s Microsoft’s president, Brad Smith, who served as the company’s general counsel ...

December 12, 2022

Suspected of Running a Rental Housing Cartel, RealPage Faces Litigation and a Federal Investigation

RealPage, Inc., a real estate software and data analytics company, is facing class action litigation and a federal investigation over whether it is ...

December 06, 2022

Exporting U.S. Antitrust Law: Are We Really Ready for NOPEC?

The year is 1979. Inflation and lines at the gas pumps caused by a revolution in Iran have stunned Americans. Driven to action, the International ...

December 06, 2022
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Harley-Davidson Facing Its Third Antitrust Class Action of the Year

The road back from the COVID-19 pandemic hasn’t been easy for Harley-Davidson. Although the company shipped more than 194,000 motorcycles globally ...

November 15, 2022

CFIUS Issues Penalty Guidelines for Enforcement

CFIUS has issued its first set of guidelines regarding the types of investment activity that could trigger penalties under the agency’s expanded ...

November 15, 2022

Google Maps Wins Early Victory in Maps Antitrust Class Action

Alphabet, Inc., Google’s parent company, has won an early victory in the Google Maps antitrust litigation filed in the Northern District of ...

November 15, 2022

Equifax / Experian Corner Worker Verification Space, Would-Be Rivals Seek Probe

Since the mid-1990s, credit reporting in the U.S., which has its roots in the records of consumer accounts held by local merchants and small-town ...

November 14, 2022
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Competition Advocacy Groups Want to Punch Live Nation's Ticket

What was promised in 2010 to deliver a robust pro-consumer ticketing and live events industry has created exactly the opposite 12 years later. That ...

November 03, 2022
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In a Welcome Win, Judge Blocks Penguin Random House / Simon & Schuster Merger

Finding the deal would substantially lessen competition in the U.S. market for publishing rights for potential top-selling books, U.S. District Judge ...

November 03, 2022
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$25 Billion Kroger/Albertsons Deal Fuels Antitrust Concerns

Federal lawmakers troubled by The Kroger Co.’s impending acquisition of one of its chief competitors, The Albertson Cos., for $25 billion, will hold ...

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DOJ Forces $85M End to "Long-Running Conspiracy" to Suppress Poultry Wages

Three poultry processors and a consulting firm that circulated wage information among them have entered a consent decree with the Department of ...

AbbVie's Humira Patent Settlement Not a Violation of Sherman Antitrust Act, Seventh Circuit Affirms

AbbVie Inc., which owns the patent on the global blockbuster drug, Humira, has again defeated a pair of claims by welfare-health plans that the ...

August 03, 2022

DOJ Launches Antitrust Probe of PGA Over Its Response to Saudi-backed 'Rebel' Tourney, WSJ Reports

The Justice Department’s Antitrust Division is investigating the PGA Tour for potentially anticompetitive conduct, the Wall Street Journal was first ...

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Consumer Harm Was Foreseeable, Now Antitrust Class Action Seeks to Unwind T-Mobile/Sprint Merger

A group of AT&T and Verizon wireless subscribers have filed a proposed class action arguing that the T-Mobile / Sprint merger – despite all of ...

Fifth Circuit Denies Antitrust Remedy to Manufacturer Denied License for Standard Essential Patents

To use the cellular telephone networks, automobile manufacturers install telematic control units containing a baseboard processor that relies on 2G, ...

June 24, 2022

Withdrawing Trump-Era Policy on Standard Essential Patents, Agencies Favor ‘Case by Case’ Approach

Patent law and antitrust law both promote innovation, albeit in very different ways. Patent law creates incentives by granting inventors the right to ...

June 13, 2022

Ninth Circuit Holds Data Scraping is Legal in hiQ vs LinkedIn

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has, yet again, held that data scraping public websites is not unlawful. hiQ Labs, Inc. v. LinkedIn Corp., decided ...

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Judge, Jury and Executioner: Fifth Circuit Slams Courthouse Door on Antitrust Plaintiff Denied SEP Licenses Subject to FRAND Commitments

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit recently slammed the courthouse door on the plaintiff in Continental Automotive Systems v. Avanci, ...

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Spirit's Merger with Frontier May Face Turbulence

In early February, Frontier Airlines and Spirit Airlines announced a $6.6 billion merger that gives Frontier a 51.5% controlling interest in a ...

Despite Defense Verdicts in Healthcare Wage-Fixing Suits, Feds Remain Resolute

Antitrust law enforcers at the Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission remain dedicated to increasing competition in several rapidly ...

Broadcom Under Antitrust Scrutiny – Again

Broadcom and the Federal Trade Commission just settled an antitrust probe in November 2021. Yet, roughly five months later, Broadcom is again in the ...

Full Ninth Circuit Removes Unwarranted Hurdles to Class Certification in Big Tuna Antitrust Case

There was reason for optimism in August 2021, when the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals granted rehearing en banc of a 2-1 decision that would have ...

Apple Smartwatch Antitrust Case Survives, Showing ‘Freedom of Design’ is Not Absolute

It’s a case that challenges the limits of the “freedom of design” usually enjoyed by companies accused of product design changes alleged to harm ...

April 11, 2022

FTC Implements Annual Increase of Threshold for Premerger Reporting

Premerger reporting is now required for companies working on transactions that will have an estimated value of $101 million or more at the ...

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Defense Department Takes Aim at Anticompetitive Mergers in Defense Industry

In 1990, the Department of Defense could turn to 13 companies to produce tactical missiles, eight to make fixed-wing aircraft, and another eight to ...

Heads Up, Drinkers: Government Says You're Paying Too Much

Intentionally or not, the federal government may have landed on an issue that can bring the Right and Left together: the price of beer, wine, and ...

FTC Gets a Second Shot at Antitrust Case Against Facebook

“Second time lucky?” That is how U.S. Judge James E. Boasberg began his opinion allowing the Federal Trade Commission’s antitrust suit against Meta ...

January 31, 2022
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DOJ's Kanter Says There Is a New Sheriff in Merger Town

Various leaders in the federal government have made it clear that they are now applying greater scrutiny to mergers and acquisitions and are not ...

January 28, 2022

New Jersey Court: War Exclusion Does Not Bar Coverage for Cyberattack

Companies seeking insurance coverage for losses from cyberattacks received good news this month. The New Jersey Superior Court for Union County found ...

January 28, 2022

7th Circuit: Is Each Transmission of Biometric Data a BIPA Violation?

The Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has certified a question to the Illinois Supreme Court over the accrual of claims under the Illinois ...

January 11, 2022
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9th Cir. Upholds Antitrust Jury Verdict Against Chinese Telescope Company

HBLC · Ninth Circuit Opinion In Telescope Case By J Rubin And T LaComb 12 - 13 - 2021 The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals this month upheld judgment ...

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UK Competition Regulator Orders Facebook to Unwind Giphy Purchase

The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has ordered the company formerly known as Facebook to unwind its acquisition of Giphy, Inc. due to ...

December 10, 2021
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FTC Pledges Crackdown on Anticompetitive Mergers and Acquisitions

Prior approval is once again standard practice. The Federal Trade Commission has resuscitated its long-dormant policy of routinely restricting ...

December 02, 2021

FTC Halts Broadcom's Exclusivity Strategy in Certain Chip Markets

The Federal Trade Commission has approved a final order settling charges that chip giant Broadcom Inc. illegally monopolized markets for ...

November 17, 2021
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Tech “Platforms” Would Have to Prove Acquisitions Are Good for Competition Under Proposed Bipartisan, Bicameral Laws

Despite agreeing on almost nothing, Democrats and Republicans have found a common cause: the anticompetitive tactics of dominant digital platforms. ...

November 10, 2021
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DOJ: A Penguin Random House / Simon & Schuster “Behemoth” Would Harm Authors and Consumers

Saying the deal would create a “publishing behemoth,” the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice filed an antitrust lawsuit on Nov. 2 ...

November 04, 2021

California Cannabis Shop Wins 15M at Industry's First Antitrust Trial

Download the PDF Marking the first cannabis industry antitrust case to reach trial, a California jury on Sept. 23, 2021, returned a $5 million ...

October 12, 2021
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Artificial Intelligence and Antitrust Activity

In a recently published paper, a pair of academics propose that the application of artificial intelligence can offer a potent weapon against ...

October 05, 2021

Visa, Mastercard Antitrust Class Actions Certified in New York and DC

Two class action certifications in two months have put credit card giants Visa and Mastercard on the defensive over the alleged anticompetitive ...

September 30, 2021
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FTC Chair: Tech Giants Operate Under the Radar to Buy Market Power

Since February 2020, staff members at the Federal Trade Commission have been studying past acquisitions by Google, Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and ...

Apple’s Constraints on App Store Payment Methods Violate California Antitrust Laws, Judge Rules

Apple, Inc. has been enjoying a tremendous advantage in the highly lucrative gaming-app market. This is thanks to the immense popularity of Apple ...

September 14, 2021

FTC's HSR Merger Reviews: Expect Delays

Facing what it calls a “tidal wave” of merger filings, the Federal Trade Commission has warned companies that Hart-Scott-Rodino Act reviews will now ...

9th Circuit Vacates Anticompetition Ruling, Will Rehear Issue En Banc

Delivering some good news for advocates of competitive markets, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has vacated a 2-1 decision that would have ...

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Non-Compete Agreements Stifle Wages, Biden Seeks to Hasten Their Demise

President Biden’s July 9, 2021, Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy reflects a movement toward greater enforcement of ...

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MoginRubin Antitrust Notes July 6, 2021

A quick recap of recent antitrust-related developments in semiconductors, real estate, college sports, insurance brokerage, digital advertising, ...

July 06, 2021

FTC Files Much-Anticipated Monopolization Charges Against Broadcom

As predicted by some, the Federal Trade Commission issued a complaint charging Broadcom Inc. with illegally monopolizing several markets for ...

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Student-Athletes Gain Ground in NCAA Compensation Fight, With Hope for More

The Supreme Court’s unanimous ruling in favor of student-athletes in their antitrust dispute with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) ...

NCAA May Not Sidestep Antitrust Law, SCOTUS Holds

JUNE 21, 2021 -- The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) doesn’t get a free pass when it comes to antitrust law, the Supreme Court held ...

June 22, 2021

Congressional Antitrust Reform 5-Pack Targets Silicon Valley's Big Four

With today’s five-bill package, members of the U.S. House of Representatives continue their pressure on Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google for what ...

June 11, 2021

New York Antitrust Law Reform Bill Fails to Clear Assembly

Saying big technology companies have reached dangerous levels of monopoly power, a New York State senator was optimistic that his proposed a solution ...

June 11, 2021

Bill Would Guarantee State AGs Home Field Advantage in Antitrust Litigation

A two-page bipartisan bill introduced in the House of Representatives on May 21, 2021, would give state attorneys general more control over where ...

June 04, 2021

DC Attorney General Sues to End Amazon’s “Unlawful Monopoly”

It is a common refrain by people familiar with Amazon’s merchant relationships: Amazon is great if you are a consumer, but if you’re a merchant on ...

June 04, 2021

Ninth Circuit's Higher Hurdle for Antitrust Class Members Weakens the Law When We Need it to be Stronger. Is the Court Having Second Thoughts?

As we witness increased market concentration and dominant players in many important industries, antitrust law and its enforcement are under attack as ...

Supreme Court: FTC Must Follow the Law in Seeking Restitution, Reverses $1.3B Award

The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously decided that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) may not simultaneously seek injunctive relief for deceptive ...

Ninth Circuit Invites Arguments re Review of Its Own Antitrust Class Action Decision

A three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals – on its own initiative – has invited attorneys in an antitrust class action to argue ...

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Fifth Circuit Upholds FTC Finding: Impax Lab's Reverse Payment Scheme Was Illegal

Citing “more than enough evidence," the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has upheld the Federal Trade Commission’s determination that ...

April 28, 2021

Politics in Antitrust: This Time It's Different

Both Democrats and Republicans see antitrust law as a critical issue that deserves much attention. They both wish to rein in the giants of ...

April 27, 2021

Bill Designed to Sharpen CFIUS to Better Undercut China's Momentum

Democratic and Republican leaders of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on April 8, 2021 proposed the Strategic Competition Action Act of 2021 ...

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Teams vs. Slack: M&A and Competition Questions in the Collaboration Space

When it comes to companies offering workplace collaboration software platforms such as Microsoft Teams and Slack there is little in the way of ...

EC Green Lights $8.5B Eyewear Deal, Pending Divestitures in Three Countries

The number of players in the rapidly consolidating $140 billion global eyewear market just dropped by one as the biggest player grew bigger. The ...

March 26, 2021
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Uptick in Antitrust Litigation Predicted Under Biden Administration

FTC Commissioner Noah Phillips and George Washington Law School Competition Law Director William E. Kovacic, who once chaired the agency, appeared on ...

EC Investigating Teva for Allegedly Delaying, Disparaging Competing MS Drug

The European Commission has opened a formal antitrust investigation to assess whether the pharmaceutical company Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. ...

March 12, 2021

Salesforce-Slack Merger Gets a Second Look from DOJ

Salesforce.com, Inc. and Slack Technologies Inc. have received requests for additional information from the Department of Justice Antitrust Division ...

FTC Lowers Reporting Thresholds for Mergers & Acquisitions

Following a unanimous vote, the Federal Trade Commission lowered by $2 million the size of mergers and acquisitions that require the parties to ...

February 22, 2021
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Fourth Circuit Affirms Divestiture Remedy in Molded Door Market Merger Challenge

Calling the case a “poster child for divestiture,” the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the divestiture of a company in the door ...

Will the Antitrust Laws Get an Update?

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), whose presidential campaign was run in part on the need to bolster antitrust enforcement and resources, has weighed in ...

Ninth Circuit Rebuffs Axon's Constitutional Challenge to FTC Merger Review

A decision by the Federal Trade Commission to challenge a proposed transaction as unlawful under antitrust laws, and setting the matter for a hearing ...

February 08, 2021

Citing "Unprecedented Times," Government Suspends Early Terminations of Merger Reviews

Agency review of business deals submitted to the federal government will now take at least the permissible full 30 days while the Federal Trade ...

Will Antitrust Law Get a 2021 Makeover?

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) -- a leading voice in the call for antitrust law reform -- is preparing fresh legislation designed to block acquisitions of ...

January 29, 2021

Will Facebook Sue Apple?

Facebook believes Apple abused its power in the smartphone market by forcing app developers to follow App Store rules that Apple itself doesn’t ...

January 29, 2021
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Biometric Privacy Protection Bill Introduced in New York

A biometric information privacy protection bill introduced in the New York Assembly this month is pending in that body’s Consumer Affairs and ...

January 22, 2021
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Longstanding Federal Antitrust Immunity for Health Insurers is Ending

Healthcare insurance companies, like other insurers, have enjoyed an exemption from U.S. antitrust laws since March 1945 when President Roosevelt ...

January 15, 2021

FTC Again Moves to Block Acquisition of Shaving Industry Disruptor

On Dec. 8, 2020, the Federal Trade Commission filed a complaint challenging the merger of The Procter & Gamble Company and Billie, Inc. According ...

December 14, 2020
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FTC v. Facebook: Can U.S. Antitrust Law Adjust to the Internet Age

This is especially true in antitrust, where industries and markets undergo constant change brought about by innovation and changing consumer ...

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Anticipated U.S. Antitrust Suit Against Facebook Delayed by Changing Administrations

Facebook’s acquisitions of one-time rivals Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014 drew a great deal of criticism from pro-competition experts. And ...

December 04, 2020

New U.K. Competition Unit to Focus on Facebook and Google, and Protecting News Publishers

That’s practically what has happened in the U.K. where the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has increased oversight of ad-driven digital ...

December 04, 2020

Consumer Credit Card Information Stolen from Dickey's BBQ

News of a data breach at Dickey’s Barbeque broke in October 2020, revealing that the payment card information of three million customers’ had been ...

December 02, 2020

Sensitive Consumer Information Stolen in Minted Data Breach

In late May 2020 by online stationery and crafts company Minted disclosed that it had suffered a breach that compromised millions of consumers’ ...

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GAO: U.S. Needs Internet Personal Data Privacy Protections for Consumers

In its 56-page Feb. 13 report, the GAO listed three issues that should be considered: Which agency or agencies should oversee Internet privacy. What ...

December 01, 2020
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The European Commission Accepts Narrow Commitments to Resolve Broadcom Investigation

On October 7, 2020, the European Commission accepted commitments offered by Broadcom Inc., ending its investigation into the chipmaker. Although a ...

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U.S., 11 States Sue to End Google’s Reign as “Monopoly Gatekeeper for the Internet”

Suit says company improperly uses market power to achieve exclusivity. The U.S. Department of Justice and 11 states have sued Google LLC in federal ...

October 20, 2020
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Apple Allowed to Continue to Ban Epic's Fortnite From Store, But May Not Retaliate Against Epic Affiliates

By Jonathan Rubin The case involves questions "on the frontier edges" of U.S. antitrust law, according to the judge overseeing it. It is a legal ...

October 19, 2020
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Emboldened by New Resources and Expanded Authority, Feds Continue 10-Year Look Back at Chinese Investment  

At a conference earlier this year on the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, or CFIUS, Assistant Treasury Secretary Thomas P. Feddo ...

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Finding and Fighting Anticompetitive Schemes: Avoiding the Big Squeeze

Why and how your organization's purchasing, legal, and finance professionals can form a formidable defense against profit-killing price-fixing, ...

September 25, 2020
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App Developer Chronicles His Saga With Apple's 'Anti-Competitive' App Store

'Apple wanted us out of the App Store.' In January 2018 Apple investors complained publicly about the lack of parental controls on their popular ...

September 15, 2020
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Auntie Em and Antitrust: Ending Ages-Old Ban, Movie Studios May Distribute Films and Own Theaters

At the end of the beloved 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy famously says to her Auntie Em, "There's no place like home!" It's one of the best ...

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Altria, JUUL Call FTC’s Antitrust Complaint 'Ill-Conceived' and Deal Good for Competition, Consumers

Altria must show it was failing in the e-cig business for deal to survive. Altria Group, Inc. and JUUL Labs, Inc. fired back at the FTC’s April ...

August 18, 2020
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POTUS Uses CFIUS to Unwind TikTok Deal, Fears Chinese Government Will Get Americans' Private Data

While rare, this use of CFIUS powers may be a harbinger. Making good on his threats and citing national security risks, President Donald J. Trump ...

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Raising New Questions re Antitrust Oversight, Epic Games Sues Apple, Google for Blocking 'Fortnite' App

When should 'marketplace platforms' be treated as markets controlled by operators? It poses a new brand of antitrust problem: private parties ...

August 14, 2020
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Elimination of Digital DIY Tax Prep Disrupter Should Concern Antitrust Law Enforcers

The Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice is taking a close look at the announced $7.1 billion acquisition of market disruptor Credit ...

August 11, 2020
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California High Court: Interference With 'At Will' Contract Requires 'Separate Wrong' to be Actionable

The sky is not falling. Opinion limited to 'at will' contracts. When a third party craters a contract, you and the other contracting party almost ...

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Four of the Five Biggest Tech CEOs Headed to Capitol Hill for Antitrust Hearings

The CEOs of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google are scheduled to appear before the U.S. House of Representatives’ Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee on ...

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DOJ Antitrust Chief Refutes Whistleblower’s Testimony Accusing AG Barr of Bias

One of U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr's team has come to his defense against allegations that he has mismanaged the Department of Justice. Assistant ...

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Healthcare Industry Antitrust Measures Advance as Pandemic Pressures Persist

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra says the COVID-19 virus has “shone a light” on the impact consolidation in the healthcare market has had ...

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Class of End-Payors Certified in Illegal Monopolization Suit Against Drug Maker Allergan

On May 5, 2020, U.S. Judge Nina Gershon of New York granted certification to a class of end-payor plaintiffs (EPPs) who purchased the successful ...

Ninth Circuit Opens Door for Students to Receive Additional Benefits for Playing Sports, Finds NCAA Rules Violation of Antitrust Laws

The National Collegiate Athletic Association’s rules limiting education-related benefits for student-athletes are impermissible restraints on trade ...

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Seventh Circuit Breathes New Life into Refusal-to-Deal Claims

On Feb. 24, 2020, the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals revived refusal-to-deal and tying claims brought against Comcast Corp. by Viamedia Inc. ...

Storm Clouds Forming Over Google as Summer Approaches

When researching the state of play between antitrust enforcers and Google, where does one start? Ah yes, Google “Google antitrust.” (Yes, the ...

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Dining Delivery Disruptors Disrupted: DOJ, FTC Should Examine Uber's Planned Purchase of Grubhub, Senators Say

Driven by competitive pressure and pandemic-related losses, Uber Technologies Inc. has expressed its intention to acquire competitor Grubhub Inc. to ...

End of an Era: The U.S. is No Longer the Authority Figure for Multinational Mergers

[Editor's Note: An earlier version of this post inaccurately described the work of the Federal Trade Commission. The authors wish to thank Bruce ...

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What Bankruptcy Counsel Need to Know About Antitrust Law: Nothing Is Free and Clear

Antitrust law doesn't take a back seat to bankruptcy. While bankruptcy is no one's idea of a dream, the beauty of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code is that it ...

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Ticketmaster, Live Nation Get Booed: Concert-Goers File Class Action for “Unchecked” Abuse of Market Power

Live Nation Threatens Anyone Who Doesn’t Play Along, Plaintiffs Allege Concert-goers tired of paying “supracompetitive fees” on ticket purchases from ...

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Is a Moratorium on Mergers During the Pandemic a Bridge Too Far?

In an interview with Politico’s Leah Nylen and Betsy Woodruff Swan, Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.) explained that he wants the next coronavirus relief ...

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Contractual Distancing: Pandemic Insurance Litigation Spreads with Business Interruption Claim Denials

Insurance coverage works when risk is spread across a large number of policyholders. But for the insurance market to function properly losses must be ...

April 19, 2020
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Private Antitrust Action Follows FTC Complaint Against Altria and Juul Over E-Cigarette Deal

Living by the adage “if you can’t beat them, join them,” tobacco giant Altria Group, Inc. acquired a 35% stake in e-cigarette market leader Juul ...

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Is a Pandemic a Material Adverse Event in M&A?

Reuters has reported that Gray Television Inc. has withdrawn its $8.5 billion offer to buy Tegna Inc. due to the potential impact of the COVID-19 ...

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U.K. Begins Phase II Probe of Cengage/McGraw-Hill Merger

On March 10, 2020, the U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority gave Cengage and McGraw-Hill an ultimatum – provide remedies that cure the ...

In Memory of Stanley Sporkin (1932 - 2020)

STANLEY SPORKIN (1932-2020) A personal note from Dan Mogin I read today that Stanley Sporkin recently passed away. The American legal community has ...

March 25, 2020
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UK Threatens Phase II Review of Cengage/McGraw-Hill Deal

On March 10th, the U.K. Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) gave Cengage Learning and McGraw-Hill an ultimatum: address competition concerns or ...

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Enforcers, Experts Discuss Tamping Down Anticompetitive Behavior in Bio Market During FDA/FTC Workshop

For believers in free markets it is important that they operate free of “shenanigans,” Food & Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Stephen Hahn ...

March 23, 2020
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DOJ: Event Powerhouse Live Nation Punished Concert Venues for Using Competing Ticketers Despite Bar

Live Nation Entertainment, Inc., owner of some of the world’s biggest music venues, events and festivals, is currently operating under what the ...

March 19, 2020
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Are These the First Steps Toward a New Approach to Merger Control?

Big Tech mergers make big headlines, but there is much more to a deal than how much money changes hands. More important questions need to be ...

March 03, 2020
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FTC, FDA Team Up Against Anticompetitive Tactics in Biological Product Industry

Anticompetitive conduct and misleading advertising practices in the burgeoning biosimilars market – where nearly identical versions of bioilogics are ...

February 28, 2020
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Consolidation of Financial Markets Continues as Morgan Stanley Offers to Buy E*TRADE, Pioneer of Low-Cost Online Trading Segment

Morgan Stanley’s proposed $13 billion all-stock acquisition of the popular E*TRADE online discount brokerage made big headlines last week. While no ...

February 26, 2020
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Treasury’s New Regs Address Impact of Foreign Investments, Other Deals on National Security

The U.S. Treasury Department’s final regulations, giving it more power to scrutinize any national security risks that may arise from deals between ...

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FTC Moves to Block Acquisition of Innovative Player That Has Been Good to Wet-Shave Razor Consumers

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) voted unanimously to challenge Edgewell Personal Care Co.’s proposed $1.37 billion acquisition of Harry’s, Inc. ...

February 07, 2020
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Agencies’ Antitrust Suit Against Drug Maker Underscores Challenges of Bringing Biosimilars to Market

The Federal Trade Commission and the New York Attorney General have sued Vyera Pharmaceuticals and two of its executives for antitrust law ...

February 05, 2020
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FTC Announces 2020 ‘Size of Transaction Thresholds’

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced on Jan. 28, 2020, that the “size-of transaction threshold” for reporting proposed mergers and ...

February 04, 2020
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Lawsuit Opposes Creation of Textbook Publishing Duopoly, But Omits a Critical Remedy

Two of the three dominant college textbook publishers – McGraw-Hill Education, Inc. and Cengage Learning Holdings II, Inc. – have agreed to merge. ...

February 04, 2020
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Remedies the Same for General Patent and Standard-Essential Patent Disputes, Agencies State

Imagine purchasing a lamp that only uses light bulbs designed specifically to fit that lamp. No other bulb will do. Or a flashlight that requires ...

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At Long Last: FTC, DOJ Issue New Draft Vertical Merger Guidelines

The Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) have released for public comment their joint draft guidelines which courts may ...

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Company Sues to Hold the FTC and Its Merger Review Process Unconstitutional

“If that procedure sounds unfair, that’s because it is.” That’s how Axon Enterprise, Inc. describes the inner workings of the Federal Trade ...

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Schwab/TD Ameritrade Deal Would Create a Wealth Management Market Dominator

Charles Schwab Corp. has announced it will acquire TD Ameritrade Holding Corp. for $26 billion in stock. But the merger should receive significant ...

January 03, 2020
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FTC Challenges Illumina- PacBio Merger Over Next Gen DNA Sequencing

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is challenging Illumina Inc.'s $1.2 billion acquisition of Pacific Biosciences of California Inc. (PacBio), ...

December 18, 2019
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Comcast Sued for Alleged Regional Sports Network Monopsony

Claiming Comcast Corp. is using its significant buying power and ambitious nationwide acquisition strategy to dominate the lucrative regional sports ...

December 10, 2019
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Undeterred by Challenges, Google Makes Another Move to Harvest Healthcare Data

You have to give Google credit. It’s no quitter. Despite pressure in the United States and Europe that might tell other companies to take a breath, ...

December 06, 2019
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Spurned by HP Board of Directors, Xerox Gets Hostile, and is Spurned Again

Copy equipment giant HP Inc. turned down the much smaller Xerox Holdings Corp.’s acquisition overtures twice in one week as the exchange of ...

Anheuser-Busch InBev, Craft Brew Alliance Take Relationship to the Next Level

After a 25-year business relationship, Anheuser-Busch InBev Worldwide, Inc. (ABI) has agreed to acquire the Craft Brew Alliance (CBA). ABI currently ...

November 20, 2019
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China's TikTok Facing Privacy & Security Scrutiny from U.S. Regulators, Lawmakers

Reuters broke the story that the Treasury Department’s Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) is conducting a national security ...

November 08, 2019
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Billion-Dollar Merger of DNA Sequencing Firms Opposed by U.K., Questioned in U.S.

DNA sequencing giant Illumina, Inc.’s proposed $1.2 billion acquisition of Pacific Biosciences of California Inc. has drawn opposition in the U.K. ...

November 05, 2019
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Take Our CLE Webinar: The Intersection of Antitrust and Privacy

Moderator & Speaker: Daniel J. Mogin | Managing Partner, MoginRubin LLP Speakers: Jennifer M. Oliver, CIPP/US | Partner, MoginRubin LLP Thomas N. ...

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Beef Buyer Class Action Says ‘Big Beef’ Colluded to Score Record Profits by Manipulating Capacity

Now it’s the direct purchasers of one of the nation’s most delicious and protein-rich commodities -- beef. The purchasers claim in a new class action ...

October 24, 2019
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CCPA Update: Governor Signs Batch of Amendments

California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed several amendments to the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018. Issues range from the timing of ...

October 18, 2019
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California Tackles Big Pharma’s Anticompetitive ‘Pay for Delay’ Practices That Slow Down Lower-Cost Generic Drug Development

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed AB 824, known as the “Pay-for-Delay" bill, blocking pharmaceutical companies from paying generic drug makers ...

DOJ Opposes Merger of Auto Industry’s Aluminum Sheet Suppliers, Agrees to Arbitrate Market Definition

The government has sued to block Novelis Inc.’s proposed acquisition of Aleris Corp., each makers of an essential lightweight product for the ...

October 15, 2019
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CCPA Changes Sent to Governor’s Desk as January Effective Date Draws Closer and Compliance Costs Loom Large

Several amendments to the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 are headed to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk. Issues range from the timing of employer ...

October 10, 2019
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California’s College Athletes May Profit from Their Positions, Kicking Off a National Wave and a Bout with the NCAA

September 30, 2019, was a big day for college athletics. Alongside Lakers’ star LeBron James (who ironically skipped college), California Governor ...

Colleges, Students Tell DOJ McGraw-Hill/Cengage Merger Would Create a Textbook Duopoly

Two of the three dominant college textbook publishers – McGraw-Hill Education, Inc. and Cengage Learning Holdings II, Inc – have agreed to merge, ...

September 30, 2019
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Consumer Groups, Unions to FTC: AbbVie-Allergen Merger Will Deny Access to More Effective and Affordable Drugs

In a September 13, 2019 letter, seventeen consumer advocacy groups and unions (led by Public Citizen Inc.) sent a clear message to the Federal Trade ...

‘Big Tuna’ Antitrust Case Among Latest to Discuss Daubert Test at Class Certification Stage. But What’s Too Rigorous?

U.S. Judge Janis L. Sammartino in California’s Southern District certified a price fixing class action against “Big Tuna” this summer following a ...

September 18, 2019

German Court: Facebook’s Use of Non-Facebook Data, Even if a Privacy Violation, is Not Anti-Competitive

While Facebook is under assault from multiple agencies and branches of government in the U.S. and Europe, it received a little good news from ...

September 07, 2019
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Google’s Cookie Conundrum: What’s Essential to Revenue Also Threatens Privacy

Google says cookies are good. They are critical to generating advertising revenue and they help the company improve its product from functionality ...

September 07, 2019
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DOJ Opposes Sabre’s Acquisition of Airline Ticketing Disrupter Farelogix

When a company with a new idea shakes up an industry and delights consumers, it is tempting for established players to devour them. But is that in ...

September 03, 2019

Hard-Disk-Drive Suspension Makers, Distributors Face Price-Fixing Class Actions, One Pays $28M Criminal Fine

People old enough to remember record players (or people who have rediscovered them) know what it was like when the needle skipped across the album ...

August 23, 2019

CBS and Viacom Get Back Together to Serve Largest Share of U.S. TV Market

By Dan Mogin and Timothy Z. LaComb CBS Corp. is buying Viacom in an all-stock transaction that values Viacom at its current stock market ...

FTC ‘Gift’ to Facebook Arrives in Less-Than-Cheery Wrapping Paper for Zuckerberg, Sandberg

Even in the year 2019, $5 billion is a lot of cash. The Federal Trade Commission’s penalty against Facebook in that amount for enabling Cambridge ...

August 13, 2019
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DOJ Gets Involved in Antitrust Case Against Symantec and Others Over Malware Testing Standards

The U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division has inserted itself into a case that questions whether the Anti-Malware Testing Standards ...

Remedy or Misadventure? DOJ Proposes Creation of New Competitor to Allay T-Mobile/Sprint Anticompetition Concerns

The federal government and five state attorneys general reached a proposed settlement with T-Mobile and Sprint on July 26, ending their opposition to ...

Anticompetition & Privacy Probes Put Big Tech on the Defensive, Scrambling to Adapt & Paying Fines

The Department of Justice Antitrust Division and the Federal Trade Commission are making good on their promises to scrutinize the world’s leading ...

Talent Agencies Sue Writers' Unions for Anticompetitive Boycott

The world’s leading talent agencies claim the two Writers Guild of America (WGA) unions violated antitrust laws by executing what they call an ...

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Free Competition or National Security? Chip Giant Qualcomm’s Business Practices Pit the FTC Against the DOJ

Ubiquitous modem chips allow our smart devices to communicate with each other over cellular networks using industry standards like 4G LTE. A small ...

DOJ Will Weigh ‘Good Corporate Citizenship’ in Future Criminal Probes

Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim announced on July 11, 2019, the Antitrust Division’s new policy for incentivizing antitrust compliance, ...

Professional Sports Leagues at Odds With Gaming Industry Over Control of Statistics

For a group of organizations whose very existence is based on fair world-class competition, the competitive spirit of professional sports leagues has ...

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Following California High Court, 9th Circuit Invalidates Mandatory Arbitration of Consumer Claims

Mandatory arbitration clauses in California just became a lot less mandatory. The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals handed consumers in three ...

Salmon Industry Faces Price-Fixing Lawsuits in the U.S. Following Raids in Europe

Commercial U.S. buyers of Farmed Atlantic Salmon have sued many of the leaders of what they maintain is a global cartel that has colluded to fix and ...

July 09, 2019

Cases Alleging Caustic Soda Cartel Combined in Federal Court in Upstate New York

Five companies filed separate lawsuits earlier this year in the Western District of New York against the nation’s leading manufacturers of caustic ...

July 09, 2019

AbbVie Buying Allergan for $63B, Creating a Dominant Player in Beauty Drug Market

AbbVie Inc. is acquiring Dublin-based Allergan PLC for approximately $63 billion in cash and stocks, the companies announced to today. This will give ...

Google is Allowing Businesses to Post Millions of Fake Listings on its Maps App. Will It Be Held Accountable?

According to a recent Wall Street Journal report millions of business listings on Google Maps are fake, thanks to businesses seeking to drive call ...

Consumers, Ranchers Allege Cartel in Beef Industry

The meat packing industry is coming under increasing pressure in the form of separate antitrust lawsuits filed this year by consumers and cattle ...

June 22, 2019

Maine, Nevada Consumer Privacy Laws Tighten the Reins on Private Data in the U.S.

Maine -- Governor Janet Mills signed the state’s tough new consumer privacy act into law June 6, requiring internet providers to obtain a consumer’s ...

NY Privacy Act Would Give Consumers Substantial Control Over Their Data and Direct Action Rights

The newly proposed New York Privacy Act, S5642, would give consumers substantial control over the use of their personal data, such as the right to ...

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Tech Market Getting More Scrutiny, This Time From the U.S. House Antitrust Subcommittee

The line of politicians, regulators, and legislators in the U.S. and abroad expressing serious concerns about the market power held by big technology ...

June 04, 2019

WSJ: DOJ ‘Gearing Up’ For Antitrust Fight Against Alphabet Inc.’s Google

The Wall Street Journal reported on May 31 that the U.S. Justice Department is “gearing up” for an antitrust investigation of Google, “a move that ...

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Qualcomm Seeks Stay of Judge Koh's 'Irreparably Flawed' Antitrust Decision

Qualcomm Inc. has asked U.S. Judge Lucy H. Koh of the Northern District of California to stay, pending appeal to the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of ...

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CFIUS: A Guardian of National Security or a Protectionist Tool?

The committee has been playing a bigger role on the global M&A stage, figuring prominently in the U.S.-China trade war and putting the breaks on ...

May 19, 2019

California Consumers' Direct Action Right for Privacy Violations Denied for Now

The Appropriations Committee of the California Senate on May 17 halted efforts to add to the California Consumer Protection Act (CCPA) a private ...

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DOJ Guides Prosecutors Considering Criminal Charges in Assessing Corporate Compliance Programs

The U.S. Department of Justice Criminal Division has issued guidance to assist prosecutors in assessing corporate compliance programs during criminal ...

Supreme Court Greenlights iPhone App Antitrust Case by ‘Direct Purchasers’

The Supreme Court held today that iPhone users are “direct purchasers” of apps from Apple’s wildly popular multi-billion-dollar App Store and have ...

May 13, 2019

Product Performance Differences a Key Factor in ‘Relevant Market' Definition

In an Initial Decision announced May 7, Chief Administrative Law Judge D. Michael Chappell upheld a Federal Trade Commission complaint challenging ...

CCPA & GDPR: The Many Similarities & Several Important Distinctions Between Two Laws That Can Bite

Companies will want to know of the often similar but frequently very different requirements created by the California Consumer Privacy Protection Act ...

German Competition Regulator Calls Facebook’s User Data Collection “Exploitative Abuse”

The German competition regulatory authority has decided to bar Facebook from combining user data with data it scrapes from non-Facebook sources -- a ...

April 29, 2019
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Spotify Tells EU Apple is Hampering Competitors as Apple Music Surpasses Spotify in U.S.

Swedish music streaming company Spotify Technology SA’s antitrust complaint against Apple Inc. in Europe is another example of a dispute arising when ...

April 23, 2019
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Add-On Acquisitions Require Antitrust Due Diligence, Expertise, and Proactivity

With the uptick in global private equity add-on acquisition activity comes the usual M&A-related risks, but getting out in front of any potential ...

April 22, 2019

Sen. Markey Introduces Federal Privacy Bill of Rights Act, Includes Private Right of Action

On Friday, April 12, 2019, Senator Edward J. Markey (D-MA) introduced the Privacy Bill of Rights Act "in the wake of a series of revelations about ...

The New Antitrust Paradox

Here are the puzzle pieces. Antitrust’s current consumer welfare standard enshrines short-term price and output effects and protecting competition – ...

Employer Anticompetitive Practices Are Risky Business

This is an excerpt of a thorough discussion of the issue captured in a 14-page article. Download the PDF. No one wants their most valuable assets ...

Cannabis Competitors Engage in Anticompetitive Conduct to Protect Territory, More Cases Likely

The global cannabis market is on track to triple in size in the next three years, expecting to hit $32 billion, with two-thirds of that coming from ...

Expanding Private Right of Action Under California Consumer Protection Act Clears Judiciary Committee

SACRAMENTO -- April 10, 2019 -- The California Senate Standing Committee on Judiciary yesterday voted 5-3 in support of SB 561 which would expand the ...

California Consumer Privacy Act Getting New Teeth as 2020 Approaches

The landmark California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 granted consumers new rights to protect themselves with respect to the collection and use of ...

Entering Into a Naked No-Poach Agreement? Bring a Lawyer.

Employers and business owners who wish to protect themselves when employees leave for new positions -- taking with them valuable knowledge that ...

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Another Anti-Competition, Anti-Privacy Action Coming Soon, This Time in Mississippi

Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood told CNBC on Monday, March 18, that he is developing his antitrust case against Google similar to the one ...

March 21, 2019

EU’s Anti-Competition Fines Against Google Now Total $9.4 Billion

The European Commission has fined Google $1.69 billion for breaching EU antitrust rules. “Google has abused its market dominance by imposing a number ...

March 20, 2019

Internet of Things: When Does Antitrust Play a Role in Privacy and National Security?

Bipartisan legislation to improve the cybersecurity of Internet-connected devices was introduced March 11 in both the Senate and the House of ...

March 15, 2019
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Legislators Call Remedies for Drug Industry Antitrust Conduct Ineffective

Democrats and Republicans in both chambers of Congress have come out against drug industry practices such as paying generic drug companies to delay ...

Sen. Warren Wants to Separate Tech 'Platforms' from 'Participants'

“Today’s big tech companies have too much power — too much power over our economy, our society, and our democracy. They’ve bulldozed competition, ...

March 10, 2019
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Facebook’s Messenger Integration Plan Greeted With Anti-Competition, Anti-Privacy Criticism

In a move that could redefine how 2.6 billion people use Facebook Messenger and Facebook’s acquired WhatsApp and Instagram apps, The New York Times ...

New FTC Task Force to Monitor Anticompetitive Conduct in Tech Sector

The Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Competition has set its sights on the U.S. technology sector. On Feb. 28 it launched a task force that will ...

March 01, 2019

Representations and Warranties and Other Contractual Provisions That Work as Defense and Offense in Deal Disputes

Half of all merger and acquisition deals are subjected to post-closing price adjustment claims. Traditionally, these disputes were resolved through ...

Notorious RBEs: Flouting M&A 'Reasonable Best Efforts' Provisions Can Cost Companies Billions  

Trial started this week in Delaware Chancery Court in a colossal dispute that followed the thunderous collapse of what would have been a $48.9 ...

February 28, 2019

Failure to Divulge Potential Privacy Violation Cited in Attack on 3.2B Acquisition

"Let’s face it: getting out the door can be hectic sometimes." That's one of the problems Google Assistant is supposed to address. But when ...

February 26, 2019

Presidential Candidate Klobuchar Takes Aim at Antitrust, Promotes Competition

Subjects like immigration, health care, criminal justice reform, taxes, international trade, and Russia dominate political news coverage. But one new ...

February 21, 2019

Global Antitrust Regulators Thwarted Fewer Deals in 2018 vs 2017, But Fines Increased

Antitrust concerns by regulators led to the demise of 29 mergers around the globe in 2018, which was a record year for the number of merger ...

February 17, 2019

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