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Competition
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April 10, 2024
Freshfields Guides EBay On Multipronged Trading Card Deal
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP is guiding eBay Inc. on new agreements with collectibles grading company Collectors that include eBay acquiring Collectors' Goldin auction house, in what the companies said Wednesday is an effort to streamline the trading card hobby in the U.S.
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April 09, 2024
After Uproar, New MDL Rule Advances With Attys Assuaged
Following years of debate and months of outcry, a judicial panel Tuesday approved the first formal rule aimed at improving efficiency and fairness in the nation's burgeoning realm of multidistrict litigation, earning plaudits from placated lawyers in the defense and plaintiffs bars.
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April 09, 2024
Why IP Attys Are Watching This $2B Trade Secrets Battle
A case of alleged corporate espionage involving two software companies that resulted in a $2 billion verdict has all the hallmarks of a legal thriller, and attorneys are watching the appeal closely to see how it could impact trade secrets litigation.
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April 09, 2024
Nikola Investors' SPAC Fraud Suit Moves Ahead
Board directors of electric truck maker Nikola Corp. and the blank-check company that took it public for $3.3 billion in 2020 must face shareholders' derivative claims of insider trading, securities fraud and merger-related breaches after Delaware's Court of Chancery on Tuesday denied more than half of the defense's motions to dismiss.
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April 09, 2024
StarKist, PE Co. Settle Tuna Price-Fixing Claims For $3.9M
Canned tuna buyers are hoping to settle their long-running price-fixing suit with StarKist and Bumble Bee, asking a California federal judge for preliminary approval of two class action payouts worth a total of $3.87 million.
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April 09, 2024
Real Brokerage $9.2M Settlement Is Latest In Agent Fee Suit
The Real Brokerage Inc. will pay $9.2 million in a settlement to exit a class action in Missouri federal court over broker fees that prompted other big brokerages to change how they charge agent fees.
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April 09, 2024
How Imminent Is 'Imminent,' Judge Asks In Supply Chain Fight
A Colorado federal judge asked an auto parts supplier Tuesday how quickly a Michigan company's alleged violation of an exclusivity deal would have tangible effects, as he considered temporarily stopping the Michigan firm from using other suppliers.
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April 09, 2024
FTC Pressures Global Partners, Gulf Oil Into Reducing Deal
The Federal Trade Commission took credit Tuesday for raising antitrust concerns spurring the late-February reduction of Global Partners LP's purchase of Northeast U.S. gas terminals from Gulf Oil, cut from five terminals with a $273 million price tag to four terminals and a $212.3 million payment.
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April 09, 2024
FIFA Settles Claims Over Foreign League Match Ban
FIFA will consider changing its rule prohibiting soccer matches outside a league's home territories, after settling antitrust claims brought against it by a sports promotion company that challenged the policy in court, a document filed in Manhattan federal court recently showed.
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April 09, 2024
Fragrance Giants Want Out Of 'Threadbare' Price-Fixing Suit
Four international fragrance giants urged a New Jersey federal court to toss a proposed class action accusing them of conspiring to reduce competition in the multibillion-dollar fragrance market, saying plaintiffs are struggling to point to any price-fixing agreement.
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April 09, 2024
Printer Buyers Defend HP Ink Cartridge Antitrust Claims
HP printer buyers told an Illinois federal court they've done enough to show that HP monopolized the market for replacement ink cartridges by alleging the company used firmware updates to lock them into purchasing HP ink cartridges.
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April 09, 2024
Apple To Appeal Funding OK For IPhone Users' £853M Claim
Apple has won permission to appeal a decision to let an £853 million ($1 billion) class action claim go ahead for allegations the tech giant concealed problems with iPhone batteries, despite challenges to the funding arrangements.
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April 08, 2024
Gamers Can't Block Microsoft From 'Dismantling' Activison
A California federal judge on Monday refused to block Microsoft from further integrating Activision Blizzard into its business after it acquired the gaming titan last year, saying the gamers who are still challenging the union between the companies have a similar motion pending before the Ninth Circuit.
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April 08, 2024
ACC Can Keep ESPN Deal Under Wraps In FSU Suit
A North Carolina Business Court judge has allowed the Atlantic Coast Conference to file some contract terms under seal in its fight over whether Florida State University can leave the conference without facing a hefty fine, reasoning that such terms have been considered sealable trade secrets by state courts.
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April 08, 2024
FTC's Slaughter Defends International Cooperation
Several federal agency leaders said Monday they are working across the government to help boost competition, as Federal Trade Commissioner Rebecca Kelly Slaughter touted the importance of cooperation on competition issues at home and abroad.
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April 08, 2024
La. Drug Caps Conflict With Federal Law, AbbVie Says
Drugmaker AbbVie is asking a Louisiana federal judge to grant its summary judgment motion and block new state-level pharmaceutical caps for the federal 340B drug discount program, calling the state's competing summary judgment motion arguments "legally and factually wrong."
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April 08, 2024
Consumers Fight Amazon's E-Book Appeal Ask
Amazon shouldn't get to go to the Second Circuit after a federal judge refused to toss a proposed class action accusing the e-commerce giant of monopolizing the e-book market, according to consumers who have urged that judge not to seek another opinion on whether they lack standing.
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April 08, 2024
Judge Urged To Reject UnitedHealth's Antitrust Deal Qualms
Patients who cut a $55 million antitrust settlement with NorthShore University HealthSystem are urging an Illinois federal court to reject objections by United Healthcare Services, arguing that the insurer has no standing to derail the deal and that its challenge to the agreement could dilute their recovery.
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April 08, 2024
PE Firm Calls FTC's Antitrust Claims 'Many Yesterdays' Old
A Texas anesthesiology company and the private equity firm that created it told a Houston federal judge Monday that the Federal Trade Commission has gone back "many yesterdays ago" in making its antitrust case, arguing that there's no imminent threat of a monopoly in an attempt to get the case dismissed.
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April 08, 2024
Farmers Want USDA Barred From 'Discriminatory' Aid Choices
A group of Texas farmers asked a federal judge to bar the U.S. Department of Agriculture from prioritizing minority groups as a part of a distribution scheme for the agency's disaster assistance and pandemic relief programs, saying the programs continue to cause harm to them and the public.
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April 08, 2024
Hormel Settling Pork Price-Fixing Claims For Over $11M
Three plaintiff classes in the ongoing pork price-fixing litigation against Hormel Foods have reached preliminary settlements worth over $11 million with the company and are now asking the Minnesota federal judge overseeing the case to grant them initial approval.
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April 08, 2024
Atlantic City Hotels Say Gov't Backing Can't Save Pricing Suit
Atlantic City casino-hotels continue to push a New Jersey federal judge to toss room rate price-fixing allegations they say get no help from a U.S. Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission intervening brief that argued algorithmic collusion is just as liable under antitrust law.
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April 08, 2024
FTC Defends In-House Judges' Role In H&R Block Case
H&R Block wrongly claimed that the Federal Trade Commission's administrative law judges should be disqualified from overseeing an administrative proceeding accusing the tax preparation company of deceptive advertising, FTC lawyers told the agency, arguing the judges don't have illegal job protections.
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April 08, 2024
Jackson Hewitt Preparers Want First OK On $10.8M Deal
Former Jackson Hewitt Inc. workers have reached a $10.8 million settlement with their former employer over claims the company's franchisees entered into an anti-competitive no-poach agreement despite the provision being removed from the company's franchise agreements, according to a Friday motion.
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April 08, 2024
Schumer Seeks More Data, Details About Capital One Deal
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Monday that he has requested more information about Capital One and Discover Financial Services' planned $35.3 billion merger, including data on the interest rates they charge and details about any potential layoffs that could stem from the deal.
Expert Analysis
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Series
Performing Music Makes Me A Better Lawyer
The discipline of performing live music has directly and positively influenced my effectiveness as a litigator — serving as a reminder that practice, intuition and team building are all important elements of a successful law practice, says Jeff Wakolbinger at Bryan Cave.
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Reverse Proffers In Federal Criminal Cases Can Be A Win-Win
The increasingly popular reverse proffer — in which prosecutors disclose evidence to targets of a criminal investigation — can help the government test its case and persuade witnesses to cooperate, and can help defendants sharpen their strategies and obtain favorable deals by choosing to cooperate, say Jeffrey Martino and Byron Tuyay at Baker McKenzie.
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EU Rejection Of Booking.com Deal Veers From Past Practice
The European Commission's recent prohibition of Booking's purchase of Etraveli based on ecosystem theories of harm reveals a lower bar for prohibiting nonhorizontal mergers, and may mean increased merger scrutiny for companies with entrenched market positions in digital markets, say lawyers at Linklaters.
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Breaking Down High Court's New Code Of Conduct
The U.S. Supreme Court recently adopted its first-ever code of conduct, and counsel will need to work closely with clients in navigating its provisions, from gift-giving to recusal bids, say Phillip Gordon and Mateo Forero at Holtzman Vogel.
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7 Critical Copyright And AI Questions Courts Need To Address
U.S. courts have yet to rule on many copyright issues regarding generative artificial intelligence technologies, so developers and users should consider several questions when evaluating risks, developing risk mitigation plans and making decisions about particular use cases, say John Delaney and Sean West at Perkins Coie.
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Mitigating Antitrust Risk Amid Increased Dealmaking Scrutiny
While deals continue to get done despite 60% of significant merger investigations in the U.S. last year concluding with a complaint or abandoned transaction, private equity firms should identify and assess potential antitrust risks and develop strategies to mitigate them early in the deal process, say attorneys at Dechert.