Key Takeaways -
A recent statement of interest from the U.S. Department of Justice focuses on “fact checking” efforts as potential antitrust violations due to the potential to suppress competition within the “marketplace of...more
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently announced its annual adjustments to (1) the pre-merger notification thresholds under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 (the HSR Act), (2) the HSR Act filing...more
1/15/2025
/ Antitrust Provisions ,
Corporate Governance ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Interlocking Directorate ,
Mergers ,
Premerger Notifications ,
Reporting Requirements ,
The Clayton Act ,
Threshold Requirements
With the nomination of Commissioner Andrew Ferguson as chair of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC or Commission) and Gail Slater to helm the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Antitrust Division, the second Trump...more
On December 12, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sued Southern Glazer’s Wine and Spirits (Southern)—the largest wholesale distributor of wine and spirits in the country—in the U.S. District Court for the Central...more
12/18/2024
/ Antitrust Division ,
Biden Administration ,
Buyers ,
California ,
Class Action ,
Competition ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Distributors ,
Enforcement ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Robinson-Patman Act ,
Sellers ,
Trump Administration ,
Wine & Alcohol
With a new administration reshaping the political landscape, retailers are preparing for policy shifts that may greatly influence their operations. In this Update, we explore the potential changes and challenges on the...more
11/18/2024
/ Advertising ,
Antitrust Division ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Privacy Laws ,
Proposed Rules ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Retail Market ,
Retailers ,
Robinson-Patman Act ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Relations ,
Trump Administration ,
USPTO
After a long hibernation, the Robinson-Patman Act (RPA)—which generally prohibits sellers from charging different prices or providing different allowances to “competing” buyers—is poised to make a comeback in agency...more
Introduction A recent ruling condemning price discrimination for a popular eye drop brand is yet another reminder that companies cannot afford to ignore antitrust risk under the Robinson-Patman Act (RPA), a longstanding law...more
On April 23, 2024, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) voted 3-2 to ban the use of nearly all noncompete agreements in America’s for-profit businesses (with only a few narrow exceptions). The party-line vote comes after...more
4/25/2024
/ Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Exemptions ,
Federal Bans ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Final Rules ,
FTC Act ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Proposed Rules ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Unfair Competition
The staff of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Bureau of Competition issued a statement on June 15, 2023, sternly criticizing the use of confidentiality and nondisclosure agreements that “impede” the FTC’s ability to conduct...more
7/11/2023
/ Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Investigations ,
Antitrust Litigation ,
Competition ,
Competition Authorities ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Employees ,
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Interviews ,
NLRB ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in two related cases, Axon Enterprise Inc. v. FTC (No. 21-86) and SEC v. Cochran (No. 21-1239), that federal district courts have jurisdiction to hear structural constitutional challenges to the...more
4/24/2023
/ Administrative Agencies ,
Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Appeals ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Consumer Protection Laws ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FTC Act ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
Antitrust compliance programs that are tailored to a company’s culture, line of business, and competitive conditions have long been worth their weight in gold. But as 2022 draws to a close, a looming economic slowdown and an...more
11/16/2022
/ Antitrust Violations ,
Appeals ,
Class Action ,
Collusion ,
Compliance ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Price-Fixing ,
Settlement ,
Sherman Act ,
The Clayton Act ,
Wage-Fixing
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) voted 5-0 to issue a complaint and accept a proposed order for public comment regarding private equity fund JAB Consumer Partners SCA SICAR’s (JAB) $1.1 billion acquisition of SAGE...more
6/24/2022
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Competition ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Investigations ,
Mergers ,
Private Equity ,
Private Equity Funds
Judge Lucy Koh of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California ruled for the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) last week in its antitrust enforcement action against Qualcomm, and issued an injunction that, if...more
5/31/2019
/ 5G Network ,
Anticompetitive Behavior ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FRAND ,
FTC Act ,
Injunctive Relief ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
IP License ,
Monopolization ,
Patent Royalties ,
Qualcomm ,
Semiconductors ,
Sherman Act ,
Standard Essential Patents ,
Telecommunications
The American Bar Association’s 67th Antitrust Law spring meeting held earlier this month featured several sessions addressing the efforts of federal and state antitrust enforcement agencies, including a number of discussions...more
4/10/2019
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Division ,
Cartwright Act ,
Competition ,
Consumer Protection Laws ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Enforcement Guidance ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Illinois Brick ,
Mergers ,
Ohio v American Express ,
Price-Fixing ,
Sherman Act ,
State Sovereignty ,
Vertical Mergers
Earlier this month, the Electronic Transactions Association (ETA) hosted its annual TRANSACT conference to connect and educate the various branches of the payments industry. Industry leaders spoke on technology, security,...more
5/31/2017
/ Arbitration ,
Citibank ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
CSBS ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Durbin Amendment Rules ,
Electronic Payment Transactions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FinTech ,
Home Depot ,
ISOs ,
Kroger ,
MasterCard ,
Merchants ,
Popular ,
RICO ,
Self-Regulatory Organizations ,
Visa Inc
The American Bar Association’s 65th Antitrust Law Spring Meeting held at the end of March included a number of sessions with representatives from federal and state antitrust enforcement agencies. In this first of a three-part...more
4/11/2017
/ Administrative Appointments ,
American Bar Association (ABA) ,
Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Attorney General ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Competition ,
Criminal Antitrust Litigation ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Disgorgement ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Merger Challenges ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers ,
Mexico ,
NAFTA ,
State and Local Government ,
The Clayton Act ,
Trump Administration ,
U.S. Attorney
In 1995, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) (collectively, the Agencies) published guidelines that delineated how and when the Agencies would evaluate intellectual property licensing...more
The Federal Trade Commission filed suit last week in federal court against Qualcomm, Inc., following its investigation launched in September 2014. The FTC alleges that the semiconductor manufacturer illegally maintained a...more
1/25/2017
/ Antitrust Violations ,
Apple ,
Cell Phones ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Declaratory Relief ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FRAND ,
FTC Act ,
Licensing Rights ,
Mobile Devices ,
Patents ,
Popular ,
Putative Class Actions ,
Qualcomm ,
Retail Market ,
Royalties ,
Section 5 ,
Smartphones ,
Standard Essential Patents ,
Technology ,
Technology Sector ,
Unfair Competition ,
Wireless Devices ,
Wireless Technology
As President-elect Donald Trump prepares to take the helm of the executive branch of the federal government, many are asking how he will approach antitrust regulation. Conventional wisdom holds that Republicans are more...more
The U.S. Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division and the Federal Trade Commission jointly issued their Antitrust Guidance for Human Resources Professionals on October 20, 2016. The guidance addresses the applicability of...more
10/28/2016
/ Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Employment Contract ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
Incentives ,
Job Applicants ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Recruitment Policies ,
Restrictive Covenants
Patent settlement agreements were traditionally deemed outside the purview of antitrust scrutiny unless the patent holder’s conduct fell outside the legitimate scope of the patent’s exclusionary power. This all changed when...more
7/5/2016
/ Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) ,
AbbVie ,
Actavis Inc. ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
FTC v Actavis ,
Generic Drugs ,
Hatch-Waxman ,
Patents ,
Pay-For-Delay ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Pharmaceutical Patents ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Reverse Payment Settlement Agreements ,
SCOTUS ,
SmithKline Beecham ,
Warner Chilcott
United States antitrust laws seek to encourage free and open competition by preventing exclusionary conduct that threatens the competitive process. Intellectual property rights (IPR) laws, by contrast, are designed to...more
In the most significant patent antitrust decision in decades, Federal Trade Commission v. Actavis, Inc., No. 12-416, 2013 WL 2922122 (June 17, 2013), the Supreme Court has held, by a 5-3 vote with Justice Alito recused, that...more