Try our Advanced Search for more refined results
Competition
-
March 27, 2024
Google Fires Back At JD Vance's Input In Common Carrier Suit
Google says it deserves the chance to respond to arguments made by Senator JD Vance, R-Ohio, on the last day of summary judgment briefing in a state-brought case seeking to declare the tech behemoth a common carrier and its search engine a public utility.
-
March 27, 2024
Fashion Retailers Agree To UK Green Claim Rules
Enforcers in Britain said Wednesday that ASOS PLC, Boohoo.com UK Ltd. and Asda Stores Ltd. have agreed to a new set of rules covering environmental claims about their fashion products following a "greenwashing" probe in the fashion retail sector.
-
March 27, 2024
Ex-Barclays, Citi Traders Lose Interest Rate-Rigging Appeals
Two former traders convicted of manipulating benchmark interest rates lost their bid to clear their names on Wednesday as an English appellate court ruled that they had received fair trials.
-
March 26, 2024
Jackson Paints Abortion Clash As Microcosm Of Bigger Brawl
A war of words Tuesday at the U.S. Supreme Court over access to abortion medication marked a climactic moment after a lengthy legal slugfest. But probing questions from Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson illustrated that the main event for reproductive rights was also simply a single round in a much larger fight over the government's regulatory powers.
-
March 26, 2024
Apple Escapes Antitrust Suit Over Crypto On Payment Apps
A California federal judge on Tuesday tossed with leave to amend a proposed antitrust class action claiming Apple's agreements with Apple Cash competitors illegally limit competition by blocking decentralized cryptocurrency technology, saying the consumers failed to adequately allege standing, among other "problematic" reasons.
-
March 26, 2024
Consumers Push For New 9th Circ. Panel In Qualcomm Case
Cellphone buyers are coming out strong against Qualcomm's request to have the same Ninth Circuit panel that vacated their class certification hear an appeal to revive the long-running antitrust litigation over the company's licensing practices, saying there is no reason for "meddling with the usual practice for assigning cases."
-
March 26, 2024
FCC Urged To Require Unlocked Phones In T-Mobile-Mint Deal
A collection of public interest groups is asking the Federal Communications Commission to attach new strings to T-Mobile's proposed $1.3 billion purchase of prepaid phone sellers Mint Mobile and Ultra Mobile, including a requirement that the carrier more quickly "unlock" its phones so they can be transferred between service providers.
-
March 26, 2024
Google Urges Texas Court To Undo $12M Voice Patent Verdict
Google has asked a Texas federal court to undo a jury's finding that it owes $12 million to an app developer for infringing patents on a method for calling from multiple phone numbers using a single phone, reasserting that the technology was used commercially well before it was patented.
-
March 26, 2024
FTC Urges Court To Pause Novant's NC Hospital Deal
The Federal Trade Commission is urging a North Carolina federal court to pause Novant Health's $320 million deal for a pair of hospitals, contending the move would give Novant an "eye-popping" share of the hospital market in a Charlotte suburb.
-
March 26, 2024
Meta, Porn Stars Fight Over Fate Of OnlyFans Suit
Meta traded barbs with adult entertainment performers about how to end a suit claiming the social media giant conspired with OnlyFans to boost the risqué platform over competitors, with the performers fighting to drop their California federal court allegations in a way that they could still be refiled.
-
March 26, 2024
Deal Holdout HomeServices Can't Undo Sellers' Class Cert.
A Missouri federal judge refused Tuesday to grant class decertification sought by HomeServices of America, the lone holdout still fighting a jury verdict that pushed the National Association of Realtors into a settlement overhauling rules that have effectively restricted how brokers buy and sell homes and how they're paid.
-
March 26, 2024
Visa, Mastercard Cut Deal In Long-Running Swipe Fee Dispute
Visa and Mastercard reached a settlement Tuesday that merchants in a long-running antitrust case say will reduce fees by $30 billion over the next several years, while eliminating restrictions on steering customers to cheaper payment options.
-
March 26, 2024
Pet Drug Maker Faces EU Probe For Axing Pipeline Dog Med
The European Union's antitrust authority said Tuesday it has launched a probe into whether Zoetis Inc. had illegally blocked competition by acquiring a pipeline product designed to treat pain in dogs and axing a potential rival's deal to sell it.
-
March 26, 2024
US EV Subsidies Discriminatory, China Tells WTO
Domestic production rules for U.S. electric vehicles to qualify for subsidies under the Inflation Reduction Act are discriminatory, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce said Tuesday, announcing it had filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization.
-
March 26, 2024
UK Clears £1.2B Atlanta-Markerstudy Insurance Broker Merger
Britain's antitrust authority said Tuesday it has cleared the planned merger between Atlanta Group and Markerstudy, a deal that values Ardonagh's home and car insurance business at £1.2 billion ($1.5 billion), after finding that the deal will not harm competition in domestic markets.
-
March 25, 2024
Merchants Hit AmEx With Antitrust Claims Over Its Fee Rules
American Express faces a proposed merchant class action alleging it violated federal antitrust law by barring businesses from taking certain measures to keep their credit card swipe costs down.
-
March 25, 2024
Meta Defends Axon Reading To DC Circ. In Privacy Deal Fight
Meta Platforms Inc. on Friday insisted to the D.C. Circuit that a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling on structural constitutional challenges supports the social media giant's efforts to block the Federal Trade Commission from pursuing changes to a $5 billion privacy settlement.
-
March 25, 2024
3 Class Claims Follow US Antitrust Suit Against Apple
Days after the U.S. Department of Justice filed a sweeping antitrust suit against Apple in New Jersey federal court, a group of iPhone buyers are filing suit, launching three separate proposed class actions between Friday and Saturday accusing the tech giant of suppressing innovation in the digital apps, wearables and payments industries through anticompetitive agreements.
-
March 25, 2024
Cable Biz Org. Seeks Delay Of Title II Regs On Small Providers
A cable industry group is pressing the Federal Communications Commission to defer by six months imposing "core" Title II rules on small internet service providers if it decides to move ahead with a net neutrality regime in the coming months.
-
March 25, 2024
Amgen Sues Colorado After Drug's 'Unaffordable' Rating
Amgen has sued the Colorado Prescription Drug Affordability Review Board in federal court after receiving a determination that one of its arthritis drugs is "unaffordable," saying the board is using unconstitutionally "unguided discretion" to impose arbitrary price controls on patent-protected drugs.
-
March 25, 2024
PacBio CEO's Words Haunt Patent Invalidity Arguments
A California federal judge concluded Monday that statements made by the chief executive officer of biotech company Pacific Biosciences to investors at an earnings call undermined the company's invalidity arguments in a patent suit it's facing.
-
March 25, 2024
FTC Intervenes In Teva-Amneal Row To Push Patent Delisting
The Federal Trade Commission waded into another patent fight Friday with a New Jersey federal court amicus brief targeting the same Teva Pharmaceuticals asthma inhaler patents it has already included in a roster of over 100 it believes were improperly listed in a key federal database.
-
March 25, 2024
Varsity Brands Says It Will Pay To Settle Cheer Antitrust Case
A Tennessee federal judge Monday rejected Varsity Brands' request for a one-week pause on an antitrust lawsuit brought by the parents of cheerleader athletes while the two sides hash out details of a settlement, arguing there are no impending deadlines making a stay necessary.
-
March 25, 2024
Sunday Ticket Plaintiffs Rip NFL For 'Privileged' Name Games
The plaintiffs in the antitrust class action against the NFL over its Sunday Ticket broadcast package have accused the league of hiding behind a front-office executive, with an inaccurate job title, to claim that vital documents were privileged and did not need to be disclosed.
-
March 25, 2024
Qualcomm Halts Plan To Buy Israeli Biz Under Regulatory Heat
The Federal Trade Commission is celebrating Qualcomm's decision to abandon its attempts at acquiring an Israeli company that makes chips that allow vehicle-to-vehicle communication after too much regulatory pushback.
Expert Analysis
-
Fed's New Swipe At Debit Fees Stirs Up Dilemma For Banks
The Federal Reserve's proposal to reduce the cap on debit card interchange fees charged or received by card issuers and payment networks comes as other bank account fees are taking regulatory hits, which could all culminate in an overall decline in access to banking products and services, says Kristen Larson at Ballard Spahr.
-
Behind Antitrust Enforcers' 2023 Labor And Employment Push
This year, the U.S. Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission stepped up their already-considerable efforts to expand antitrust enforcement to labor and employment, a trend that is likely to continue into next year, say Benjamin Dryden and Richard Flannery at Foley & Lardner.
-
How Attorneys Can Be More Efficient This Holiday Season
Attorneys should consider a few key tips to speed up their work during the holidays so they can join the festivities — from streamlining the document review process to creating similar folder structures, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.
-
Exploring Middle-Market M&A Trends In 2023 And Beyond
Middle-market merger and acquisition activity this year was affected by a number of economic, legal and regulatory shifts, with certain trends pointing to favorable transaction conditions in 2024, say Jason Brauser and William Goodling at Stoel Rives.
-
Series
Children's Book Writing Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Becoming a children's book author has opened doors to incredible new experiences of which I barely dared to dream, but the process has also changed my life by serving as a reminder that strong writing, networking and public speaking skills are hugely beneficial to a legal career, says Shaunna Bailey at Sheppard Mullin.
-
Parsing 2023's Energy Markets Enforcement
A review of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's and Commodity Futures Trading Commission's recently released fiscal year 2023 enforcement reports highlight the significant energy market enforcement activities, litigation pursued and settlements reached by both agencies, as well as their respective strategic goals and focus areas, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.
-
Hoopers In NCAA Suit Respark Eligibility Framework Debate
A decision by two brothers involved in a recent antitrust lawsuit against the NCAA — to play college basketball rather than go professional after graduating from the Overtime Elite league — has aimed the spotlight on what exactly the NCAA deems permissible compensation under its current framework, say Brady Foster and Dan Lust at Moritt Hock.
-
Lessons From DOJ's Wave Of Labor Market Prosecutions
Attorneys at Patterson Belknap consider lessons learned and future meaningful challenges following the U.S. Department of Justice's first six criminal antitrust cases targeting employee no-poach and wage-fixing agreements, in which just one case resulted in a guilty plea.
-
Opinion
Giving The Gov't Drug Patent March-In Authority Is Bad Policy
The Biden administration's recent proposal to allow government seizure of certain taxpayer-funded drug patents is a terrible idea that would negate the benefits of government-funded research, to the detriment of patients and the wider economy, says Wayne Winegarden at Pacific Research Institute.
-
How Clients May Use AI To Monitor Attorneys
Excerpt from Practical Guidance
Artificial intelligence tools will increasingly enable clients to monitor and evaluate their counsel’s activities, so attorneys must clearly define the terms of engagement and likewise take advantage of the efficiencies offered by AI, says Ronald Levine at Herrick Feinstein.
-
When Patients Have Standing For Hospital Antitrust Suits
Brown v. Hartford Healthcare Corp., recently decided by a Connecticut state court, provides a useful examination of how antitrust standing issues may be analyzed when patients directly sue a healthcare system for anti-competitive conduct, says Charles Honart at Stevens & Lee.
-
8 Ways To Negotiate Improved Disgorgement Outcomes
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's nearly $3.4 billion collected in disgorgements in 2023 shows that substantial disgorgement claims from regulators and law enforcement are the new norm, but corporations may be able to dramatically reduce what they owe by using eight strategies to argue for reduced net profit calculations, say experts at AlixPartners.
-
Lessons From This Year's Landmark Green Energy IP Clash
In this year's Siemens v. General Electric wind turbine patent dispute, a Massachusetts federal court offers a cautionary tale against willful infringement, and highlights the balance between innovation, law and ethics, as legal battles like this become more frequent in the renewable energy sector, say John Powell and Andrew Siuta at Sunstein.
-
DOJ's RealPage Notice Signals Focus On Pricing Algorithms
The U.S. Department of Justice's Antitrust Division recently filed a statement of interest in the Realpage multidistrict litigation to stake out its position that price-fixing algorithms pose a great anti-competitive threat, which suggests that the DOJ and private parties may continue to bring similar actions in the future, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.
-
Series
The Pop Culture Docket: Judge D'Emic On Moby Grape
The 1968 Moby Grape song "Murder in My Heart for the Judge" tells the tale of a fictional defendant treated with scorn by the judge, illustrating how much the legal system has evolved in the past 50 years, largely due to problem-solving courts and the principles of procedural justice, says Kings County Supreme Court Administrative Judge Matthew D'Emic.