Competition

  • July 23, 2025

    FTC Wants PE Firm's Medical Device Coating Deal Put On Ice

    Private equity firm GTCR BC Holdings' $627 million merger with Surmodics will bring the previously fierce competition for medical device coatings to a grinding halt, the FTC says, which is all the more reason a federal court should block the deal while an agency challenge plays out.

  • July 23, 2025

    9th Circ. Clarifies Bored Ape NFTs Are Trademarkable Goods

    The Ninth Circuit issued a significant ruling for digital asset creators Wednesday finding that Yuga Labs' Bored Ape Yacht Club nonfungible tokens are protectable "goods" under federal law, while also reversing Yuga Labs' $8 million summary judgment win and ruling that a jury must decide whether rival NFTs confuse consumers.

  • July 23, 2025

    Anthropic Judge Says Authors Can Seek OpenAI Docs In NY

    A California federal judge on Wednesday told a certified class of authors claiming Anthropic stole their work to train its AI technology that they have his blessing to ask a New York court overseeing copyright litigation against OpenAI and Microsoft to produce documents and deposition testimony related to the California case.

  • July 23, 2025

    9th Circ. Revives Barrett Business Services' Secrets Case

    The Ninth Circuit has reinstated Barrett Business Services Inc.'s claims of trade secret theft against two former employees, their wives and a competing company they started.

  • July 23, 2025

    Eye-Control Wheelchair Tech Targeted In Wash. Co.'s IP Suit

    A Washington-based firm that makes devices for individuals with disabilities has launched a lawsuit in federal court claiming a German company exploited its patented technology that allows users to control powered wheelchairs by looking at a screen.

  • July 23, 2025

    8th Circ. Tosses FCC Dems' Local Media Ownership Rule

    The Eighth Circuit on Wednesday threw out local media ownership rules passed a year and a half ago by Democrats on a split Federal Communications Commission vote.

  • July 23, 2025

    False Ad Ruling Expanded Patent Law, Crocs Tells Justices

    Shoemaker Crocs Inc. has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to look at a Federal Circuit decision reviving false advertising claims that its shoes were made with "patented, proprietary, and exclusive" materials that weren't actually patented, arguing that the ruling would allow an "end run" around Congress' limitations on false marking suits.

  • July 23, 2025

    Amazon Shoppers Protest Proposed 'Mini-Trial' On Class Cert.

    Consumers are fighting Amazon's bid for an evidentiary hearing in parallel antitrust suits before a Washington federal judge decides a pending class certification motion, insisting the company has had plenty of time to vet key opinions from the plaintiffs' economics expert.

  • July 23, 2025

    UK Eyes Google, Apple Mandates For App Ranking, Payments

    United Kingdom antitrust authorities on Wednesday formally proposed singling out Apple's and Google's mobile platforms for extra regulatory attention and specific mandates, proposing road maps for the Play Store and App Store that could try to stop the companies from boosting their own apps and commission-based payment systems.

  • July 23, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Deems 'Kist' And 'Sunkist' Marks Confusingly Alike

    The Federal Circuit on Wednesday reversed a trademark tribunal's conclusion that "Kist" and "Sunkist" soft drink marks were not confusingly similar, saying the board was wrong to distinguish the goods by focusing on images of red lips and the sun in marketing materials for the products.

  • July 23, 2025

    7th Circ. Revives Part Of Solar Firm's Panama Grid Suit

    The Seventh Circuit on Tuesday largely upheld an Illinois federal judge's ruling that Spanish energy company Avanzalia Solar could not pursue its claims that Goldwind Americas blocked and delayed access to the Panamanian power grid.

  • July 23, 2025

    American Arbitration Assoc. Looks To Duck Monopoly Claims

    The American Arbitration Association urged an Arizona federal court Tuesday to toss a case accusing it of monopolizing the market for consumer arbitration services, saying the proposed class action hasn't come close to pleading predatory pricing.

  • July 23, 2025

    Apple Tells 9th Circ. Birthright Ruling Scraps Epic's Injunction

    Apple Inc. told the Ninth Circuit on Tuesday that the U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling in litigation challenging President Donald Trump's birthright citizenship executive order means that a nationwide injunction and civil contempt order in Epic Games Inc.'s antitrust case over Apple's App Store policies cannot stand.

  • July 23, 2025

    Paramount, Skydance Defend Merger Plan At FCC

    Paramount Global and Skydance Media continued to lobby the Federal Communications Commission for approval of their proposed $8 billion merger last week, telling the agency not to side with commenters calling for additional regulation as a condition.

  • July 23, 2025

    Credit Suisse Gets Forex Cartel Fine Slashed To €28M

    The European Union's General Court reduced on Wednesday a fine imposed on Credit Suisse for its part in a foreign-exchange trading cartel by approximately €54.3 million ($64 million).

  • July 23, 2025

    Senate Confirms Roth To Lead Federal Spectrum Agency

    The U.S. Senate on Wednesday confirmed Arielle Roth as the next chief of the U.S. Department of Commerce agency that manages federal use of the airwaves.

  • July 22, 2025

    Sandoz Loses 'Nonsense' Bid To Avoid DOJ Deal In AGs' Case

    A Connecticut federal judge has given dozens of state attorneys general a small but important win in a sprawling price-fixing litigation against generic-drug makers, applying previous admissions of criminal wrongdoing and flatly rejecting "ridiculous" efforts by Sandoz, Taro Pharmaceuticals and a former Sandoz official to avoid that application.

  • July 22, 2025

    DC Circ. Puts Fired FTC Dem's Restoration On Ice, For Now

    One of the Federal Trade Commission Democrats who was removed from the agency before her term was up by the Trump administration will not be returning to her seat just yet after the D.C. Circuit agreed to put the order mandating her return to work on hold.

  • July 22, 2025

    DOJ Backs Door Maker's Divestiture Order In 4th Circ. Appeal

    The U.S. Department of Justice cleared a door maker's merger twice by the time a rival challenged the tie-up in court and won a landmark divestment order, but now the government is standing behind the company that won the order and asking the Fourth Circuit to keep it in place.

  • July 22, 2025

    Fubo Streamers Get Own Attys In Disney Suit

    DiCello Levitt and Lite DePalma have won out over Bathaee Dunne in a battle to represent FuboTV subscribers suing Disney over ESPN streaming rates, with a judge saying he had "grave doubts" that Yavar Bathaee could adequately represent the plaintiffs after Bathaee undercut their case in a status conference.

  • July 22, 2025

    Fair Use Carveout Applies To Med Device Repairs, Judge Says

    A D.C. federal judge has shot down two industry groups' challenge to a rule that placed medical device diagnostic procedures and repairs under fair use copyright exceptions, saying all of their challenges under the Administrative Procedure Act were unpersuasive.

  • July 22, 2025

    Power Cos., PJM Back FERC Auction Rerun Decision

    Power producers and PJM Interconnection LLC told the D.C. Circuit Monday the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission was right to let PJM rerun an electricity capacity auction with an inflated reliability requirement after the Third Circuit ruled changes to it were retroactive ratemaking.

  • July 22, 2025

    Jordan's Team Says NASCAR Is Trying To 'Rewrite History'

    Michael Jordan's NASCAR team 23XI Racing accused the private stock car racing organization of filing a bad faith countersuit in the parties' antitrust battle, using it to extract a valuable aspect of a joint charter agreement.

  • July 22, 2025

    Antitrust Fight Over Puerto Rico Baseball Partially Revived

    The First Circuit has affirmed the dismissal of federal antitrust claims from the former owner of a Puerto Rico-based baseball team over a league's efforts to remove him, citing the longstanding U.S. Supreme Court exemption for the sport, but revived claims under local antitrust law.

  • July 22, 2025

    Amazon Pushes Back On FTC's Trial Time Extension Bid

    Amazon has urged a Washington federal court to reject the Federal Trade Commission's bid to extend the agency's trial time in a lawsuit over automatically recurring Prime subscriptions, calling the proposal both unfair and baseless.

Expert Analysis

  • Opinion

    Antitrust Analysis In Iowa Pathologist Case Misses The Mark

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    An Iowa federal court erred in its recent decision in Goldfinch Laboratory v. Iowa Pathology Associates by focusing exclusively on market impacts and sidestepping key questions that should be central to antitrust standing analysis, says Daniel Graulich at Baker McKenzie.

  • 3 Ways Civil Plaintiffs Could Fill An FCPA Enforcement Gap

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    While the Department of Justice recently announced it would deprioritize Foreign Corrupt Practices Act investigations into U.S. businesses without obvious ties to international crime, companies should stay alert to private plaintiffs, who could fill this enforcement void — and win significant civil damages — through several legal channels, says Eric Nitz at MoloLamken.

  • Dewberry Ruling Is A Wakeup Call For Trademark Owners

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Dewberry v. Dewberry hones in on the question of how a defendant's affiliates' profits should be treated under the Lanham Act, and should remind trademark litigants and practitioners that issues involving monetary relief should be treated seriously, say attorneys at Finnegan.

  • New HSR Rules Augur A Deeper Antitrust Review By Agencies

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    After some initial uncertainty, the new Hart-Scott-Rodino Act rules did go into effect last month, and though their increased information requirements create greater initial burdens for merging parties, the rules should lead to greater certainty and predictability through a more efficient and effective review process, says Craig Malam at Edgeworth Economics.

  • 7 Tips For Associates To Thrive In Hybrid Work Environments

    Excerpt from Practical Guidance
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    As the vast majority of law firms have embraced some type of hybrid work policy, associates should consider a few strategies to get the most out of both their in-person and remote workdays, says James Argionis at Cozen O’Connor.

  • Series

    Playing Beach Volleyball Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My commitment to beach volleyball has become integral to my performance as an attorney, with the sport continually reminding me that teamwork, perseverance, professionalism and stress management are essential to both undertakings, says Amy Drushal at Trenam.

  • US Soccer Win Shows Value Of Defining 'Relevant Market'

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    Despite U.S. Soccer's successful defense against North American Soccer League's antitrust allegations, sports leagues should continue to be mindful of risks posed by hierarchical structures since the New York federal judge in that suit found a triable issue of fact on the relevant markets issue, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • If Elphaba Had Signed A Restrictive Covenant In 'Wicked'

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    Following the recent big-screen release of "Wicked," employers should consider how the tale might have ended if the Wizard of Oz had made Elphaba sign a restrictive covenant agreement, which would have placed clear limitations on her ability to challenge his regime, says Emily Wajert at Sidley.

  • Opinion

    2 Errors Limit The Potential Influence Of AI Fair Use Case

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    The recent opinion in Thomson Reuters v. ROSS Intelligence may have little predictive value for artificial intelligence litigation, because the decision failed to engage with an important line of case law on intermediate copying, and misapplied the concepts of commercial substitution and superseding use, says Brandon Butler at Jaszi Butler PLLC.

  • How Law Firms Can Counteract The Loneliness Epidemic

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    The legal industry is facing an urgent epidemic of loneliness, affecting lawyer well-being, productivity, retention and profitability, and law firm leaders should take concrete steps to encourage the development of genuine workplace connections, says Michelle Gomez at Littler and Gwen Mellor Romans at Herald Talent.

  • Opinion

    DOJ's HPE-Juniper Challenge Is Not Rooted In Law

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    Legal precedents that date back as far as 1990 demonstrate that the U.S. Department of Justice's recent challenge to the proposed $14 billion merger between Hewlett Packard and Juniper is misplaced because no evidence of collusion or coordinated conduct exists, says Thomas Stratmann at George Mason University.

  • How Citizen Petitions Have Affected Drug Competition

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    In light of recent citizen petitions and proposed legislation regulating such petitions, Omar Robles at Managing Health analyzes the statistics of the extent to which citizen petitions have been filed, and to what extent they have delayed competition in prescription pharmaceuticals.

  • 5 Keys To Building Stronger Attorney-Client Relationships

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    Attorneys are often focused on being seen as the expert, but bonding with clients and prospects by sharing a few key personal details provides the basis for a caring, trusted and profoundly deeper business relationship, says Deb Feder at Feder Development.

  • BlackRock Suit Highlights Antitrust Risks Of ESG

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    In Texas v. BlackRock, pending in Texas federal court, 13 state attorneys general are suing large institutional investors in the coal business, underscoring key reasons companies may want to alter their approach to developing and implementing policies related to environmental, social, and governance factors, especially if coordination with competitors is involved, say attorneys at Manatt.

  • What Reuters Ruling Means For AI Fair Use And Copyright

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    A Delaware federal court's recent decision in Thomson Reuters v. ROSS Intelligence is not likely to have lasting effect in view of the avalanche of artificial intelligence decisions to come, but the court made two points that will resonate with copyright owners who are disputing technology companies' unlicensed use of copyright-protected materials to train generative AI models, says David Ben-Meir at Ben-Meir Law Group.

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