Author: Ruth Glaeser The Third Circuit Court of Appeals held that Merck is exempt from antitrust claims under the Noerr-Pennington doctrine in a lawsuit accusing it of deceiving the government about the effectiveness of its mumps vaccine to prevent competition. Background from the Third Circuit’s Opinion Merck was the sole…
Articles Posted in Antitrust News
Understanding Antitrust Scrutiny: Lessons from United States v. American Airlines and JetBlue
Author: Sabri Siraj In a landmark decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit upheld a district court ruling to permanently enjoin the Northeast Alliance (NEA) between American Airlines and JetBlue Airways. This case offers key insights into the relationship between joint ventures and antitrust and the standards…
Unpacking the Implications of the FTC’s Antitrust Case Against Amazon for Online Marketplace Competition
Author: Sabri Siraj The Federal Trade Commission has survived a motion to dismiss in a high-stakes lawsuit against Amazon, igniting critical discussions about competition in the online marketplace. As a dominant player in global e-commerce, Amazon’s practices have long affected both consumers and competitors. Will this case change those practices…
Mergers & Acquisitions, AI and Antitrust: The New Creative Ways for Big Tech to Enter the AI Market and Avoid HSR Rules
Author: Luis Blanquez Two of the main pillars from the Biden Administration Antitrust Policy in 2023 have been an aggressive merger enforcement agenda and its crusade against Big Tech and vertical integration. On the merger side, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) have published new Merger…
New Antitrust Cases and Statements of Interests About Algorithmic Collusion
Author: Luis Blanquez We recently wrote about the Federal Trade Commission’s blog post explaining how relying on a common algorithm to determine your pricing decisions might violate Section 1 of the Sherman Act. The FTC has Algorithmic Price-Fixing in its Antitrust Crosshairs It was just a matter of time until…
The Apple Store is in the Crosshairs of US and EU Antitrust and Competition Enforcers
Author: Luis Blanquez Apple is currently feeling the heat from antitrust authorities all over the world. Probably more than ever. Below is an article we recently published in the Daily Journal discussing in some detail the last developments in the Epic Games saga, both in the EU and the US.…
Antitrust Agency Publishes Revised HSR Notification Thresholds and Filing Fees For 2024
Authors: Steven Cernak and Luis Blanquez On January 22, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued its usual annual announcement to increase the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Act thresholds. The 2024 thresholds will take effect 30 days after publication in the Federal Register, which is expected soon, so the thresholds likely will…
Five Key Takeaways from Fifth Circuit’s Illumina Merger Review Opinion
Author: Steven Cernak On December 15, 2023, the Fifth Circuit remanded to the FTC its order requiring Illumina to divest its re-acquired subsidiary, Grail. Despite the remand, the opinion is a big win for the FTC. Below, we offer five takeaways for future merging parties and their counsel. [Disclosure: Bona…
Does the NBA have an antitrust problem? A rival basketball league may think so.
Authors: Luke Hasskamp & Molly Donovan NBA action is FAN-TASTIC! Unless, of course, the action is one brought by the Department of Justice in a different kind of court. But that may be exactly where the NBA finds itself: the DOJ is reportedly investigating the professional basketball association for alleged…
$1.8 Billion Antitrust Verdict Against Realtor Groups Provides Lessons for Brokerages, Realtor Associations, and Multiple Listing Services Nationwide
Authors: Molly Donovan & Aaron Gott A Missouri jury awarded a class of home sellers $1.8 billion dollars in finding that the National Association of Realtors (“NAR”) and some of the nation’s largest real estate brokerages “conspired to require home sellers to pay the broker representing the buyer of their…