CompetitionRSS

  • October 30, 2007

    New Law Prompts Case Dismissals: Energy Cos.

    Several energy companies, including Exelon Corp., Commonwealth Edison Co. and Ameren Corp., say recently passed Illinois legislation should prompt the dismissal of two consumer class action lawsuits that accuse power wholesalers of artificially inflating electricity prices.

  • October 30, 2007

    Q&A With Taylor Wessing’s Michael Dietrich

    For a European antitrust lawyer with some familiarity with the U.S. system, it is very difficult to understand why both the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission have jurisdiction over merger cases, says Taylor Wessing's Michael Dietrich in our series of chats with high-profile antitrust lawyers.

  • October 30, 2007

    AT&T Divests, DOJ Greenlights $2.8B Deal

    AT&T Inc. on Tuesday agreed to divest the Cellular One brand as part of its $2.8 billion acquisition of Dobson Communications Corp., in order to settle an antitrust suit brought against it the same day by the U.S. Department of Justice.

  • October 30, 2007

    Intel Plaintiffs Balk At Tax Return Ruling

    Claiming a court document mix-up, the plaintiffs in an antitrust action against Intel Corp. are seeking to overturn a judge's ruling that would require the class representatives to produce personal tax returns and other financial records.

  • October 30, 2007

    Travel Agents Blown Off Course In Antitrust Case

    A federal judge has dismissed the antitrust claims of a group of travel agents, ruling the crew failed to meet the criteria needed to proceed with their allegations that the airlines conspired to limit their commissions.

  • October 30, 2007

    Homebuilders Quell HUD Kickback Investigation

    Six homebuilders, including Pulte Homes Inc., KB Home and Beazer Homes USA Inc., will pay almost $1.4 million to resolve a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development probe into allegations that title insurance companies paid kickbacks to the builders in exchange for referrals.

  • October 30, 2007

    European CFI Official Moves To Latham & Watkins

    Eric Barbier de La Serre, former member of the European Court of First Instance, will be adding his expertise to the European antitrust and competition practice group of Latham & Watkins LLP.

  • October 30, 2007

    D.C. Drug Pricing Law Dies, Again

    On Tuesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit hammered what may be the final nail into the coffin of a District of Columbia law that would have regulated the price of patented drugs in the U.S. capital.

  • October 29, 2007

    Bird Flu Vaccine Antitrust Suit Dismissed

    Veterinary diagnostics company Idexx Laboraties Inc. has been handed a sweeping summary judgment in the monopolization suit it was hit with last year by a one-man company trying to break into the bird flu testing market.

  • October 29, 2007

    FCC Seeks To Scrap Exclusive Cable Deals

    The U.S. Federal Communications Commission is trying to cut soaring costs of cable television and break open competition in the industry with a new rule that would void thousands of contracts that entitle individual cable companies to exclusively provide service to apartment complexes.

  • October 30, 2007

    DRAM Defendants Press For Allocation Plan

    Seven defendants remaining in the Dynamic Random Access Memory multidistrict antitrust litigation have asked a federal court to hold off on granting preliminary approval to the indirect purchaser plaintiffs’ settlements with Samsung Group and Winbond Electronics Corp.

  • October 29, 2007

    BSkyB Offers To Cede 3% Of ITV Voting Rights

    In an effort to appease regulators who have raised a red flag about its holding in broadcaster ITV PLC, British television company BSkyB Corporation PLC has offered to surrender some of the voting rights derived from its 17.9% share in the company.

  • October 29, 2007

    Sprint Settles Class Action, Agrees To Provide Code

    Sprint Nextel customers leaving the wireless service provider will soon be able to use their Sprint phones on competitors' networks, thanks to an antitrust class action settlement that mandates that Sprint turn over the code to unlock the hardware.

  • October 29, 2007

    Supreme Court Will Not Hear Anti-Dumping Case

    The U.S. Supreme Court said Monday that it would not hear a case brought against the U.S. by a Japanese company over whether the U.S. Commerce Department is obligated to reverse a decision on anti-dumping duties in the face of a conflicting decision from the World Trade Organization.

  • October 29, 2007

    Abbott Faces Antitrust Suit Over HIV Treatments

    Plaintiffs — including Safeway Inc., Walgreen Co. and the Kroger Co. — are claiming in an antitrust suit that Abbott stymied competition in the market for boosted protease inhibitors when it jacked up the price of HIV treatment Norvir by about 400% after competitors started threatening Abbott's dominance.

  • October 26, 2007

    FTC Queries Blood Company Over Old Deals

    Blood-bank instruments maker Immucor Inc. said Friday that it had received a request from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission for information related to acquisitions it made about a decade ago.

  • October 26, 2007

    Owens Corning Merger OKd With Reservations

    The U.S. Federal Trade Commission on Friday ordered Owens Corning to divest its North American continuous filament mat business if it wants to complete its acquisition of French building materials company Compagnie de Saint Gobain SA.

  • October 26, 2007

    FCC's Copps Urges Review Of Dow Jones-News Deal

    One of two Democratic FCC commissioners on Thursday called for the agency to review News Corp.'s pending deal to acquire Dow Jones & Co., saying the deal would create a company with "enormous influence over politics, art and culture across the nation and especially in the New York metropolitan area."

  • October 26, 2007

    EU Looking To Speed Up Cartel Settlements

    Europe's competition watchdog is seeking the public's input on a plan to allow faster and cheaper settlements for companies that own up to their involvement in a cartel, a plan the European Commission says would free up resources and allow it to pursue more cases.

  • October 29, 2007

    Q&A With Howrey's Alan Wiseman

    Treble damages are necessary to make cases economically feasible because the cost of litigation — and its risks — are so high, says Howrey's Alan Wiseman in our series of chats with high-profile antitrust lawyers.