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Competition
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April 02, 2024
Qualcomm Says 9th Circ. Panel Already Heard Chip Claims
Qualcomm is urging the Ninth Circuit to assign an appeal from phone and tablet buyers looking to revive allegations that the chipmaker uses anti-competitive licensing practices to the same panel that nixed a class certification ruling in the long-running case.
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April 02, 2024
Ohio Regulator Urges Justices To Review FERC Deadlock Rule
The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio has urged the U.S. Supreme Court to review the Third Circuit's decision upholding a rule change from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission that took effect despite a commissioner deadlock, arguing that the appellate court didn't apply a fitting standard.
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April 02, 2024
Monthly Merger Review Snapshot
Kroger and Albertsons navigated merger challenges from the Federal Trade Commission and two separate state attorneys general, Nippon Steel tried to assuage concerns from the White House down about its planned purchase of U.S. Steel, and JetBlue Airways and Spirit Airlines abandoned their merger.
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April 02, 2024
NFL Rips 'Unnecessary' Compel Motion In Sunday Ticket Spat
The NFL pushed back against the plaintiffs' efforts to revisit discovery documents in an antitrust class action over the league's Sunday Ticket broadcast package, arguing the motion to compel is a "manufactured and unnecessary dispute" over a discovery process that ended two years ago.
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April 02, 2024
Hagens Berman To Lead Yardi Rent Price-Fixing Class Action
A Washington federal court tapped Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP as interim lead counsel for a putative class of renters amid a suit alleging that 11 property management companies are part of a price-fixing ring powered by an algorithm developed by Yardi Systems Inc.
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April 02, 2024
Investment Adviser Wants Stolen Clients Suit Trimmed
An investment adviser and her new firm told a Florida court on Monday that the parent holding company of her former employer Mercer Global Advisors does not have standing to pursue its claims that she stole its clients and interfered with its business.
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April 02, 2024
Proskauer Adds 13-Year Wilson Sonsini Vet, Ex-DOJ Leader
Proskauer Rose LLP has hired a longtime Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati PC partner who also has two decades of experience working with the U.S. Department of Justice on a range of antitrust matters, the firm announced.
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April 01, 2024
Warner Bros. Directors Resign Amid DOJ Antitrust Concerns
A pair of Warner Bros. Discovery directors have resigned from the board of directors after the U.S. Department of Justice flagged potential antitrust concerns over them sitting on both the Warner Bros. board as well as the board of Charter Communications, the agency announced Monday.
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April 01, 2024
RICO Claims Fail In Suit Against Developer, Judge Says
A Texas federal judge on Monday dismissed a lawsuit brought by real estate entities associated with a Dallas developer who accused the founders of Megatel Homes LLC of racketeering, saying that the lawsuit didn't plausibly state that the defendants had engaged in any unlawful racketeering activity.
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April 01, 2024
Mixed Ruling Readies Vegas Newspapers For Trial
A Nevada federal judge has teed up the Las Vegas Review-Journal and the Las Vegas Sun for a contentious trial with a decision nixing Review-Journal antitrust counterclaims, preserving core Sun antitrust claims and holding the Review-Journal to an agreement to distribute the papers as a single product.
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April 01, 2024
NY Bill Threatens Public Broadband Networks, Advocates Say
Public broadband advocates are saying new language in a New York state bill would undermine their push for locally owned and operated wireless networks by requiring that state funding only go to projects for "unserved and underserved" areas instead of making the grant money available to any locality that wants to own its own network.
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April 01, 2024
Split 9th Circ. Says Court Can Void Pot Co.'s TM Applications
A Ninth Circuit majority affirmed on Monday the cancellation of cannabis grower Central Coast Agriculture's trademark applications for its "Raw Garden" brand due to its lack of bona fide intent to use the marks commercially, with one judge dissenting, saying district courts can't interfere with and prematurely cancel trademark applications.
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April 01, 2024
Wireless Cos. Push Back On Neutrality For Network 'Slicing'
The mobile services industry is fighting public advocates' efforts to make sure so-called network "slicing" is covered by net neutrality rules the Federal Communications Commission is planning to reimpose on internet providers.
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April 01, 2024
'Unreliable' Theory Dooms City's Acthar Antitrust Cert. Bid
The city of Rockford has presented "unreliable" damages evidence that cannot warrant giving class treatment to its claim that pharmacy benefits manager Express Scripts engaged in a scheme to fix prices for the seizure medication Acthar, an Illinois federal judge has said.
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April 01, 2024
Fed. Circ. Revives Challenges To J&J Schizophrenia Drug
A Federal Circuit panel on Monday gave generics-makers Teva Pharmaceuticals USA Inc. and Viatris Inc. a new chance to prove that a patent on Johnson & Johnson's blockbuster schizophrenia drug Invega Sustenna is invalid, saying a lower court used an "erroneously rigid" analysis when rejecting their challenge.
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April 01, 2024
Pool Co. Seeks $4.36M In Atty Fees After False Ad Verdict
Attorneys from McCarter & English LLP and Womble Bond Dickinson LLP are seeking more than $4 million in fees following a multimillion-dollar verdict in a North Carolina false advertising and unfair business practices suit involving rival pool supply companies.
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April 01, 2024
Ford Can Keep Pursuing Narrowed BCBS Antitrust Suit
A Michigan federal judge has trimmed some of Ford Motor Co.'s time-barred claims alleging Blue Cross Blue Shield engaged in an anti-competitive scheme to drive up prices, but said the auto giant established it had standing to pursue allegations it was injured by market-restricting agreements among insurance licensees.
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April 01, 2024
Digital Trade Groups Keep Pressing Biden To Oppose Barriers
U.S. technology industry groups are maintaining pressure on the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to stand up to foreign policies that limit or jeopardize access to export markets, especially in the burgeoning digital trade space.
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April 01, 2024
One Set Of Amazon Buyers Can't Cancel Later Antitrust Case
Antitrust lawsuits against Amazon.com in New York and Washington federal court will remain separate after a New York federal judge refused Friday to let online shoppers in the earlier-filed Washington case intervene in — and junk — the other proposed class action filed two years later.
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April 01, 2024
DOJ Antitrust Enforcement Vets Jump To Skadden, Foley
Two veterans of the U.S. Department of Justice's Antitrust Division have headed to private practice in Washington, D.C., with one joining Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP and another leaving the government for Foley & Lardner LLP, the firms said Monday.
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April 01, 2024
Global Tensions Stall Cross-Border Deals As Gov'ts Regroup
Global cross-border mergers and acquisitions activity has fallen steadily from its 2021 peak, in part due to geopolitical issues that attorneys say are causing governments across the globe to bolster foreign investment policies and could lead investors to shift their geographic focus.
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March 29, 2024
DC Circ. Rejects Meta's Bid To Delay FTC Privacy Tweaks
A D.C. Circuit panel on Friday refused Meta Platforms Inc.'s bid to delay the Federal Trade Commission from pursuing changes to a $5 billion privacy settlement, saying the social media giant failed to show why it's entitled to an emergency injunction while it's challenging the FTC's structure.
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March 29, 2024
Silicon Valley Co. Planning New City Can Sue Landowners
A California federal judge has refused to throw out a suit claiming that landowners conspired to drive up the cost of land in Solano County near Sacramento as a mysterious entity backed by Silicon Valley bigwigs attempted to buy up land to build a brand new, sustainable city.
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March 29, 2024
Home Depot Asks High Court To Block $2.67B BCBS Deal
Home Depot has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to take up its challenge of a $2.67 billion settlement in antitrust litigation targeting Blue Cross Blue Shield, saying the deal immunizes activity that hurts competition.
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March 29, 2024
Dem Cites 'Secret' Report Against Ticketmaster 'Rebates'
A major congressional critic of Live Nation Entertainment Inc. and Ticketmaster highlighted an expert report from a long-running lawsuit as further proof of the ticketing juggernauts' "rampant, corrupt and abusive practices," although assertions that the report was secret and only newly unearthed may be overblown.
Expert Analysis
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Navigating Discovery Of Generative AI Information
As generative artificial intelligence tools become increasingly ubiquitous, companies must make sure to preserve generative AI data when there is reasonable expectation of litigation, and to include transcripts in litigation hold notices, as they may be relevant to discovery requests, say Nick Peterson and Corey Hauser at Wiley.
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First-Of-Its-Kind Artist AI Ruling Offers Liability Guidance
A California judge recently became the first federal judge in Andersen v. Stability AI to rule at the pleading stage on a challenge to claims that training artificial intelligence models involves mass-scale copyright infringement, providing insight into the potential legal exposure of AI-enabled products, say attorneys at Fenwick.
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Finding Focus: Strategies For Attorneys With ADHD
Given the prevalence of ADHD among attorneys, it is imperative that the legal community gain a better understanding of how ADHD affects well-being, and that resources and strategies exist for attorneys with this disability to manage their symptoms and achieve success, say Casey Dixon at Dixon Life Coaching and Krista Larson at Stinson.
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How 'Safe Harbor' Policy Will Modify M&A Processes
Legal practitioners should be aware that the Justice Department's "safe harbor" immunity will change the typical M&A process significantly as acquirers start embedding fraud detection into their due diligence, including a broader scope of examinations and interviews, says Jesse Silvertown at The Ledge.
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Earnout Contract Considerations After NC Good Faith Ruling
The North Carolina Supreme Court's recent Value Health Solutions v. Pharmaceutical Research decision, holding the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing did not apply in an earnout dispute related to an asset sale, demonstrates the need for practitioners to pay careful attention to milestone concepts in M&A transactions, says Benjamin Hicks at Wagner Hicks.
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Reading Between The Lines Of HHS' National Lab Opinion
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Inspector General recently rejected a national laboratory's request to pay a referring lab to process specimens, but the request might have been an attempt to exploit the OIG's advisory opinion process for a competitive advantage, says Mary Kohler at Kohler Health Law.
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ITC Ban On Apple Watch Could Still Be Reversed
The U.S. International Trade Commission's recent final decision that the Apple Watch infringed two patents owned by Masimo Corp. was a rare instance of a popular consumer product being hit with an absolute importation ban, but it's possible that President Joe Biden could assert his power to reverse the ITC decision, says Benjamin Horton at Marshall Gerstein.
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Attorneys, Law Schools Must Adapt To New Era Of Evidence
Technological advancements mean more direct evidence is being created than ever before, and attorneys as well as law schools must modify their methods to account for new challenges in how this evidence is collected and used to try cases, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.
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Biden Admin's M&A Rhetoric Outpaces Enforcement Numbers
Despite the Biden administration's rhetoric about the need to reinvigorate antitrust efforts, merger enforcement actions by the Federal Trade Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division are at 20-year lows, with the agencies opting for deterrence instead, says Ryan Quillian at Covington.
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Best Practices For Cos. Navigating US-China Investigations
Given recent enforcement trends and the broad jurisdictional reach of U.S. laws, companies with operations in China must enhance their compliance programs in order to balance new corporate enforcement expectations with Chinese data protection and privacy requirements, say attorneys at Paul Hastings.
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Tips For Litigating Against Pro Se Parties In Complex Disputes
Litigating against self-represented parties in complex cases can pose unique challenges for attorneys, but for the most part, it requires the same skills that are useful in other cases — from documenting everything to understanding one’s ethical duties, says Bryan Ketroser at Alto Litigation.
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5 Ways To Leverage Recent DOJ 'Safe Harbor' M&A Policy
Companies can take a series of practical steps both before and after closing to gain maximum advantage from the recently announced U.S. Department of Justice merger and acquisition safe harbor policy and minimize enforcement risk, say Jonny Frank and Jeremy Hirsch at StoneTurn.
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Get Ready For Calif.'s Expanded Restrictive Covenant Ban
California recently passed the second of two new laws that together largely prohibit restrictive covenants, even for certain out-of-state employers — and since there's not much time before the statutes become effective, now is the time for companies to revisit how their confidential information will be protected, says Russell Beck at Beck Reed.
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Pro Bono Work Is Powerful Self-Help For Attorneys
Oct. 22-28 is Pro Bono Week, serving as a useful reminder that offering free legal help to the public can help attorneys expand their legal toolbox, forge community relationships and create human connections, despite the challenges of this kind of work, says Orlando Lopez at Culhane Meadows.
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Avoiding Bribery, Corruption And Sanctions Risks In Int'l M&A
Given the evolving merger and acquisition landscape — as evidenced by the Justice Department’s recently announced safe harbor policy — acquirers conducting international transactions must build bribery, anti-corruption and sanctions risk considerations squarely into their due diligence processes, say Brian Markley and Jennifer Potts at Cahill Gordon.