As anticipated, on June 15, 2021, the U.S. Senate confirmed Lina Khan’s appointment to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Unexpectedly, within hours of her confirmation, President Joe Biden named her FTC chair. Ms. Khan...more
President Biden has signaled a pro-enforcement approach to antitrust policy by naming Columbia Law School professor Tim Wu as a White House adviser and nominating Lina Khan, who also teaches at Columbia Law, to be...more
Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court decided unanimously in AMG Capital Management, LLC v. FTC that Section 13(b) of the Federal Trade Commission Act of 1914 (FTC Act) does not authorize the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to...more
More than four years after the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) jointly released the Antitrust Guidance for Human Resource Professionals in 2016 (Antitrust Guidance), the DOJ has...more
2/22/2021
/ Antitrust Conspiracies ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
Indictments ,
No-Poaching ,
Sherman Act ,
Wage-Fixing
On August 11, 2020, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit decisively reversed the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC or Commission) controversial district court win challenging Qualcomm’s licensing practices. In...more
8/18/2020
/ Anticompetitive Behavior ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Appeals ,
Cell Phones ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FRAND ,
FTC Act ,
Injunctive Relief ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
IP License ,
Lack of Evidence ,
Monopolization ,
OEM ,
Patent Royalties ,
Qualcomm ,
Remand ,
Reversal ,
Sherman Act ,
Standard Essential Patents
Antitrust treatment of no-poach agreements continues to evolve as private cases progress, state attorneys general ramp up enforcement efforts and federal regulators further contemplate the legality of no-poach agreements....more
Legal battles over the antitrust treatment of no-poach agreements continue to escalate with new district court decisions and new pronouncements from two “titans” of antitrust policy, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the...more
6/10/2019
/ AAI ,
American Antitrust Institute ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Dominos ,
Fast-Food Industry ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Franchisee ,
Franchisors ,
Hub-and-Spoke Conspiracy ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
No-Poaching ,
Per Se Rule ,
Quick Look Analysis ,
Rule-of-Reason Analysis ,
Sherman Act ,
Vertical Restraints
On April 12, the Federal Trade Commission held a hearing to debate the extent to which the FTC should use retrospective reviews to strengthen merger enforcement. This was the latest in the series of hearings on Competition...more
4/26/2019
/ Acquisitions ,
Administrative Hearings ,
Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Investigations ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Competition ,
Enforcement ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FTC Commissioners ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers ,
Political Parties
The Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) Bureau of Competition has established a task force dedicated to monitoring competition in U.S. technology markets and taking enforcement actions as warranted. While the remit of the task...more
4/23/2019
/ Anticompetitive Behavior ,
Antitrust Investigations ,
Competition ,
Data Privacy ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Emerging Technology Companies ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Agency Taskforce ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hospital Mergers ,
Mergers ,
Technology Sector
Skadden’s Antitrust and Competition Group and the economics firm Charles River Associates recently co-hosted the ninth annual “Antitrust in the Technology Sector: Policy Perspectives and Insights From the Enforcers” seminar...more
3/5/2019
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Investigations ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
AT&T ,
Bid Rigging ,
Cartels ,
Cloud Computing ,
Collusion ,
Competition ,
Consumer Protection Laws ,
Data Privacy ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Digital Marketplace ,
EU ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FRAND ,
Innovation ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers ,
Monopolization ,
No-Poaching ,
Online Platforms ,
Qualcomm ,
Reputational Injury ,
Social Media ,
Technology Sector ,
Time Warner ,
Vertical Mergers
On February 25, 2019, in FTC v. Shire ViroPharma, Inc., the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit confirmed that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) cannot plead its way into federal court via Section 13(b) of the FTC...more
3/2/2019
/ Administrative Proceedings ,
Administrative Remedies ,
Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Appeals ,
Disgorgement ,
Dismissals ,
Federal Pleading Requirements ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FTC Act ,
Generic Drugs ,
Illegal Profits ,
Injunctive Relief ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Remedies ,
Restitution ,
Unfair Competition
Evolving antitrust treatment of so-called “no-poach” agreements continues to offer important guidance for company counsel and human resources professionals. Over the past two years, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has...more
2/12/2019
/ Antitrust Violations ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Criminal Penalties ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Fast-Food Industry ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Franchisee ,
Franchises ,
Franchisors ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Horizontal Restraint ,
Hub-and-Spoke Conspiracy ,
No-Poaching ,
Pleading Standards ,
Rule-of-Reason Analysis ,
Sherman Act ,
Universities
On October 21, 2016, Skadden presented a seminar titled “Antitrust Law and Policies From Brussels to Washington, D.C.: The Atlantic Divide?” in Brussels. Former DG Competition Director General Sir Philip Lowe gave the keynote...more
12/19/2016
/ Brussels Regulation ,
Competition ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
European Court of Justice (ECJ) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Free Movement ,
Geo-Blocking ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers ,
UK ,
UK Brexit ,
UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA)
On October 20, 2016, the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) jointly issued new guidance designed to help human resources professionals and their companies understand...more
11/4/2016
/ Antitrust Violations ,
Civil Liability ,
Criminal Liability ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
New Guidance ,
No-Poaching ,
Technology Sector ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wage-Fixing