CompetitionRSS

  • January 12, 2007

    Bill Would Give NFL Veto Power In Team Relocations

    Hoping to keep more national football teams rooted in their cities, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D.-Calif.) has proposed a bill to exempt the National Football League from certain antitrust laws, giving it veto power on a franchise’s plan to relocate.

  • January 11, 2007

    E.U. Eyes Damages In Antitrust Cases

    In a step that moves Europe closer to a comprehensive system for civil antitrust litigation, the European Commission is preparing a research study on the economic impact of court-awarded damages.

  • January 11, 2007

    E.U. Delays Decision On Universal-BMG Deal

    The European Commission has extended the deadline for its decision on Universal Music Group’s bid to take over BMG’s music publishing business to the beginning of June.

  • January 12, 2007

    Competition Agency Suspects Tortilla Price-Fixing

    As tortilla prices rise in Mexico to previously unseen levels, the nation’s competition watchdog said Thursday it would begin an investigation into possible industry price-fixing.

  • January 10, 2007

    U.S., E.U. Butt Heads Over Air Agreement

    A U.S. delegation is in Brussels this week in hopes of finally negotiating an agreement with European Union officials to liberalize the transatlantic air travel market, which the two parties have wrangled over for more than three years.

  • January 10, 2007

    Kroes Threatens To Break Up E.U. Utilities

    In response to a report that found “serious competition problems” in Europe's energy industry, European Union Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes on Wednesday warned that she might break up energy giants that hinder competition in the industry.

  • January 10, 2007

    Senators Introduce Net Neutrality Bill

    Sens. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) introduced “net neutrality” legislation Tuesday that would stop broadband service providers from charging additional fees for high-speed access.

  • January 8, 2007

    New Bill Clears Path For $4 Generics

    A Minnesota state representative is seeking to revamp a decades-old pricing law that retail pharmaceutical giants Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Target Corp. claim prevents them from offering certain generics drugs at $4 in the state.

  • January 8, 2007

    Kroes Renews Battle Cry For Energy Unbundling

    The European Union's top antitrust official has issued fresh warning calls that the best solution to anti-competitive practices in the energy sector would be forcing companies to separate production from distribution networks.

  • January 5, 2007

    Antitrust Probe May Sting E.U. Energy Firms

    As European Union regulators prepare to make public the results of a long-running probe into the energy sector, Europe’s largest energy companies may be the subject of a renewed crackdown after early reports revealed the inquiry found evidence of anti-competitive practices.

  • January 5, 2007

    Italian Regulator Reduces Fines For Oil Cos.

    Noting an error in calculation, Italian antitrust regulators have altered the fines leveled against jet fuel providers Shell and Total in 2005 for allegedly engaging in anti-competitive behavior.

  • January 4, 2007

    Mergers Face Challenges With Democrats In Charge

    The newly controlled Democratic Congress, which came into power Thursday, may not have any legal authority over high-profile mergers. But it is expected to put more pressure on the Department of Justice and other government agencies, making divestitures and even merger rejections more likely in the telecommunications, media and airline industries.

  • January 3, 2007

    Supreme Court Fills Schedule With Antitrust Cases

    For much of its history, the Supreme Court has granted cert to at most one or two antitrust cases a year. But 2007 is turning out different, as the Court already has at least four competition cases on its schedule, with the possibility of more to come.

  • December 29, 2006

    Authorized Generics: An Issue To Watch In 2007

    Authorized generics are sure to be heavily debated again this year, since Democrats will likely push legislation to prohibit brand-name drug makers from marketing generic versions of their own drugs.

  • December 29, 2006

    Legislation To Watch In 2007

    With new majorities in both houses of Congress, the Democrats will have a chance to reshape antitrust policy once the 2007 congressional session begins. However, they will be up against many challenges that make drastic change improbable, experts say.

  • December 29, 2006

    Cases To Watch In 2007

    With at least four cases before the Supreme Court and many others scattered throughout federal district courts, 2007 is shaping up to be an important year in antitrust law.

  • December 29, 2006

    DOJ Antitrust Fines Rise 40% In FY2006

    The U.S. Department of Justice obtained more than $473 million in fines in the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, 2006, an increase of over 40% from the preceding year, thanks in large part to the success of its crackdown on an international memory chip cartel, the DOJ said.

  • December 21, 2006

    Second Requests Drop In U.S. Merger Reviews

    The number of second requests in U.S. merger reviews dropped to just 1% in the fiscal year ended Sept. 31, despite a sharp rise in merger and acquisition activity, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

  • December 20, 2006

    E.U. Parliament Votes For Railway Competition

    The European Parliament’s transport committee has decided to support more competition on the continent’s national railway networks, which puts it at odds with the Council of the European Union.

  • December 19, 2006

    E.U. Delays Electricity-Transmission Cartel Decision

    The European Commission’s antitrust authority is delaying until January making a decision about a cartel for electricity-transmission technology involving some of the largest multinational firms in Europe and Asia.

Expert Analysis

  • The Application Of Article 82 EC — Part I

    Recently, the European Commission unveiled its long-awaited guidance on the application of Article 82 EC to single firm conduct. All firms that are or could be targets of complaints — or might complain against perceived anti-competitive conduct by a dominant firm — should familiarize themselves, say Christian Duvernoy, Frederic Louis, Gabriele Accardo and Vivien Terrien of WilmerHale LLP.

  • Unjust Enrichment: Unjust, Indeed

    The use of unjust enrichment by plaintiffs counsel in indirect purchaser, multistate antitrust actions is a clever innovation and can be difficult to defend at the pleadings stage. Still, courts need to recognize the inherently vague nature of the claim, especially when asserted by indirect purchasers, whose claims are already inherently speculative, say Leslie E. John and Jason A. Leckerman of Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll LLP.

  • A Potentially Dramatic Shift In Merger Enforcement

    The D.C. Circuit's decision in FTC v. Whole Foods Market Inc. creates a much lower standard for the Federal Trade Commission to obtain a preliminary injunction than exists for its sister antitrust enforcement agency, the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, say Scott M. Mendel, Jeffrey B. Aaronson and Lauren N. Norris of Bell Boyd & Lloyd LLC.

  • Emerging Antitrust Regimes In Asia

    China's implementation of the Anti-Monopoly Law this past summer may well stimulate the emergence and modernization of other antitrust regimes in Asia, say William O. Fifield, Yang Chen and Yang Ing Loong of Sidley Austin LLP.

  • Anticipating Obama's Consumer Protection Push

    Barack Obama’s inauguration as the 44th president of the United States is certain to bring an increase in consumer protection regulation and enforcement across industries to levels not seen by American businesses since before Ronald Reagan initiated widespread deregulation nearly 30 years ago, says Lewis Rose of Kelley Drye & Warren LLP.

  • Retrospective Reviews Of Petroleum Industry Mergers

    While the U.S. Government Accountability Office's recent report on energy markets is unlikely to set off a flood of retrospective reviews of petroleum industry mergers, several important lessons can be drawn from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission's response, say Jerry L. Beane and Kay Lynn Brumbaugh of Andrews Kurth LLP.

  • Testifying Can Be A Terrible Temptation

    For any defendant, the decision to testify or to exercise his Fifth Amendment right to stay silent is a complicated, sometimes gut-wrenching choice. Perhaps Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, would have been convicted even if he had kept quiet. But perhaps not, says Joseph J. Aronica of Duane Morris LLP.

  • Facing Concurrent Federal, State Antitrust Actions

    What can defense counsel do when faced with concurrent federal and state court antitrust class actions? The strategies are limited, but if pursued successfully, the rewards can be great, says David H. Bamberger of DLA Piper.

  • FERC's Thought Process On Market Manipulation

    The U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's recent decision in favor of Hydro Quebec Energy Services is not only the resolution of a specific complaint, but is also intended to provide guidance to market participants about the FERC enforcement staff's thought process regarding market manipulation, say Terence Healey and Gregory K. Lawrence of McDermott Will & Emery LLP.

  • American Needle And Extended Antitrust Immunity

    In American Needle Inc. v. National Football League, the Seventh Circuit further extended Copperweld immunity beyond the traditional parent-subsidiary relationship, say Geraldine M. Alexis and Marta M. Palacios of Perkins Coie LLP.