antitrust division
DOJ Continues Campaign Against Competitors Sharing Directors
More corporate directors have resigned in light of the Department of Justice Antitrust Division’s initiative to stop competitors from sharing corporate leadership. Two directors on…
GOP v. MLB: Republicans Cry Foul Over All-Star Game Move
Republican Senators Ted Cruz and Mike Lee want to end Major League Baseball’s antitrust immunity following the league’s decision to relocate the All-Star Game and…
FTC Sues to Block Illumina/Grail Deal
The Federal Trade Commission has filed an administrative complaint and authorized a federal court lawsuit to block Illumina’s $7.1 billion proposed acquisition of Grail —…
Hospital Merger Activity and Challenges: Two Conclude, One Merger Abandoned
Deal activity in the trillion-dollar U.S. patient-care industry has been hardy, despite projections that the pandemic might have slowed things down. That means the federal…
Foreign-Language Trainers Admit to Defrauding NSA
Two providers of foreign-language training services, Comprehensive Language Center Inc. (CLCI) and Berlitz Languages Inc., admitted that they took part in a conspiracy to defraud…
Antitrust Reform Effort Gets Some Shade
Editor’s Note: This is a follow-up to our blog post, Will the Antitrust Laws Get an Update? The U.S. Chamber of Commerce says the effort…
“Big Poultry” Producer Pleads Guilty to Price Fixing
Pilgrim’s Pride Corp. of Colorado has pleaded guilty and will pay $107 million in criminal fines for its role in a conspiracy to fix prices…
DOJ Joins Group in Effort to Better Police Emerging Tech
The Department of Justice is joining the Computational Antitrust project, hosted by the Stanford University CodeX Center and created by Professor Thibault Schrepel. “The project…
Congress Agrees to End Antitrust Exemption for Health Insurers
Bill Awaits President’s Signature Healthcare insurance companies, like other insurers, have enjoyed an exemption from U.S. antitrust laws since March 1945 when President Roosevelt signed…
New Law Designed to Protect Antitrust Whistleblowers
Signed into law by President Trump on Dec. 23, 2020, the Criminal Antitrust Anti-Retaliation Act bars employers from retaliating against individuals who report criminal antitrust…
Thirty-Eight AGs Bring a Third Antitrust Case Against Google
Google Illegally Maintained Monopolies, Created Insurmountable Barriers to Entry for Competitors, Suit Says A bipartisan coalition of 38 attorneys general have sued Google LLC for…
MoginRubin’s Competition Law Attorneys Featured on Webinar: “The Antitrust Case Against Google”
Competition law and class action specialists from MoginRubin LLP joined a law professor who served as a trial attorney in the Antitrust Division and an…
DOJ: Visa / Plaid Deal Would be Bad for Online Debit Market and Consumers
Government Sues to Block Deal Intended to Erase Disruptor Referring to Visa Inc. as a monopolist in the online debit services industry, the Department of…
Healthcare: Anticompetitive Tying Class Action Moves Forward Against Sutter Health
Indirect purchasers of health insurance will proceed as a class against Sutter Health for alleged anticompetitive conduct which plaintiffs maintain illegally tied health plans to…
Pharma: Consumer Groups, States Support Reviving Generic Drugs Antitrust Case Against AbbVie
Pro-consumer organizations — Consumer Action and U.S. Public Interest Research Group — and 20 states have filed amici curiae briefs with the Seventh Circuit U.S.…
Pistacchio vs. Apple: iPhone Gamers Claim Anticompetitive Behavior in Subscription Game Market
Apple iPhone gamer John Pistacchio filed a proposed class action against Apple, Inc. on behalf of purchasers of “Apple Arcade,” a subscription mobile gaming service…
TikTok Gets Reprieve from Trump Ban, Nears Deal with Oracle, Walmart
Now that TikTok has more time to keep its U.S. operation alive – thanks to a federal court order enjoining the Trump administration’s effort to…
DOJ Requires Divestiture of Hawaiian Brewer Before Anheuser Can Buy Craft Brew
The Justice Department Antitrust Division will approve a major acquisition in the beer industry, but only if one of the merging company’s divests its holdings…
House Bill Would Allow College Athletes to Capitalize on Their Fame
A group of U.S. House Democrats and Republicans have introduced the “Student Athlete Level Playing Field Act” which would add momentum to the current movement…
Nvidia’s Acquiring UK Chip Designer for $40 Billion
In a move that Reuters said will “reshape the global semiconductor landscape,” Nvidia Corp. is purchasing Arm of the U.K. from SoftBank Group Corp. of…
French and American Luxury Brands Litigate Delayed Merger
Dispute in Delaware, Tussle in Brussels LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton of France used business challenges presented by the novel coronavirus to avoid a multi-billion-dollar…
Apple Fires Back at Epic Games in Fortnite Fight
Responding to Epic Games’ bold suit against Apple (and separately against Google) — alleging anticompetitive operation of the Apple Store — the computer and mobile…
Claim That LinkedIn Has a ‘People Analytics’ Monopoly Fails
hiQ Labs Inc., a new employment tech firm, sued professional network giant LinkedIn for abuse of its market power. Specifically, the startup-alleged LinkedIn blocked its…
Casino Sues Scientific Games, Bally’s for Antitrust Law Violations, Charge 100% Card-Shuffler Monopoly
The Tonkawa Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma, a casino operator, alleges in a proposed class action that Scientific Games Corp., Bally Technologies, Inc., and Bally…
Partner Jennifer Oliver Celebrates the 100th Anniversary of the 19th Amendment
On August 18, 1920, women were finally granted the right to vote with the passing of the 19th Amendment. This year marked the 100th anniversary…
FTC Approves Elanco’s $7.6B Acquisition of Bayer Animal Healthcare, Sets Divestiture Conditions
Pending approval, two of the world’s largest animal healthcare manufacturers will consummate a multibillion dollar acquisition in August 2020, subject to FTC and other, international…
California AG Opposes Healthcare System’s Pandemic-Prompted Proposal to Delay Settlement
In response to Sutter Health’s motion for a continuance, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra requested that a San Francisco state court move forward with a…
U.S. House of Representatives Extends Antitrust Penalty Leniency Program for Cooperating Defendants
On June 25, 2020, the House passed a bill to permanently extend a recently expired provision within the Antitrust Criminal Penalty Enhancement and Reform Act…
Californians Will Vote on Whether to Expand the State’s Consumer Privacy Act
In November, California residents will vote on a proposal to augment the California’s Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), which took effect in January 2020. The Secretary…
Apple, Inc. Probed by European Commission for Possible Antitrust Violations
In late June, the European Commission (EC) opened several formal cases investigating Apple’s mobile payment technology (Apple Pay) and various third-party and user agreements to…
DOJ Secures Admission of Guilt, Agrees to Deferred Prosecution Agreement for Generic Drug Manufacturer Accused of Price Fixing
The Justice Department has announced a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) and a $24.1 million criminal penalty against Apotex, Inc., a Florida-based generic pharmaceutical manufacturer. Apotex…
FTC and DOJ Announce Expedited Antitrust Procedure and Guidance for Coronavirus Public Health Efforts
FTC.gov Press Release – March 24, 2020 The Federal Trade Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division today issued joint statement detailing an…