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Competition
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Featured
FTC Touts Labor As It Reviews Microsoft's Activision Deal
Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan affirmed the agency's commitment to scrutinizing mergers for their potential impact on labor markets after lawmakers urged enforcers to consider how Microsoft's $68.7 billion bid for Activision Blizzard would affect workers.
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June 29, 2022
Gov't Mulls Granting Parker's £6.3B Bid For UK Aerospace Co.
A motion and control technology company said Wednesday it hopes to close its £6.3 billion ($7.6 billion) acquisition of Britain's Meggitt PLC after the U.K. government said it is inclined to accept adjustments to the deal addressing competition and security concerns.
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June 28, 2022
Sens. Ask Minor Leaguers About MLB Antitrust Exemption
A bipartisan group of senators have sent a letter to an advocacy organization for minor league baseball players asking about how Major League Baseball's century-old exemption from antitrust law has impacted ballplayers in the game's lower professional ranks.
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June 28, 2022
Google, Apple Want Consumer Search Conspiracy Suit Gone
Google and Apple are fighting to toss a consumer suit from the same attorneys, and with virtually identical allegations, as a Google Search advertiser accusing Google of paying Apple not to produce its own search engine, arguing that the consumers in the latest case can't show harm from using a free product.
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June 28, 2022
JPML Centralizes Cell Tech IP Suits Against Tesla, GM, Others
Neo Wireless' cellular patent suits against several carmakers, including Tesla and General Motors, were transferred to the Eastern District of Michigan Tuesday after the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation determined centralization will streamline the related litigation and boost convenience.
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June 28, 2022
McDonald's Defeats Ex-Workers' No-Poach Claims
An Illinois federal court on Tuesday granted a bid from McDonald's to escape claims from ex-workers over the fast-food chain's alleged past use of no-poach provisions in its franchise agreements, saying there was too much competition for their labor to support an antitrust case.
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June 28, 2022
7th Circ. Won't Revive Antitrust Suit Against Radiology Board
A Seventh Circuit panel on Tuesday affirmed the dismissal of an antitrust suit against the American Board of Radiology, saying the lead plaintiff "has fallen short" in showing the group illegally tied its initial board certification for radiologists to a continuous certification program some physicians would rather buy elsewhere.
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June 28, 2022
Warby Parker Escapes 1-800 Contacts' Search Engine TM Row
A New York federal judge has cleared eyewear provider Warby Parker of claims it infringed 1-800 Contacts' trademarks with allegedly targeted search engine advertisements, ruling that reasonably sophisticated consumers can tell the difference between the rivals' distinct marks.
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June 28, 2022
CFIUS Probing Ericsson's $6.2B Vonage Buy
Swedish telecommunications giant Ericsson disclosed Tuesday that national security officials are reviewing its plans to buy New Jersey-based internet phone company Vonage for an enterprise value of about $6.2 billion.
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June 28, 2022
Fla. Legal Services Co. Says Ex-Partner Stole Trade Secrets
Legal services company Veritas Legal Plan Inc. has accused a former business partner in a Florida federal court of illegally using its training, documents and customer list to become a competitor.
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June 28, 2022
Google May Face Antitrust Probe After Danish Job Biz Row
A Danish job search company has urged European antitrust regulators to investigate Google for allegedly abusing its market position to unfairly dominate the job advertising space, accusing the tech giant of the same practice for which it has already been fined billions of euros.
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June 27, 2022
As Opioid Trial Ends, Judge Jokes Of 'Generous' Time Limits
A San Francisco federal judge who put strict time limits on a bellwether bench trial in multidistrict opioid litigation noted Monday that both sides wrapped up their cases within their allotted 45 hours, prompting him to wonder to courtroom chuckles if he "was just too generous."
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June 27, 2022
Gold Price-Fixing Deal Could Imperil Other Claims, Court Told
An investor suing Scotiabank for alleged precious metals futures spoofing is objecting to a proposed $50 million settlement that would end a separate gold price-fixing case against the bank and other financial institutions, telling a New York federal judge that the deal's release of claims should be narrowed.
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June 27, 2022
Apple Rival Blasted For 'Defective And Unnecessary' Brief
A California federal judge took a would-be Apple App Store competitor to task for a "procedurally defective" bid to tweak a ruling that tossed chunks of its monopolization lawsuit over Apple policies locking rivals out of the iPhone.
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June 27, 2022
Google Fights App Users' Class Cert. Bid In Antitrust Row
A month after announcing a settlement to resolve app developers' antitrust claims, Google wants to escape allegations that its policies inflate the cost of apps on its Play Store, accusing a group of consumers seeking class certification of "misconstruing evidence and brushing aside competitive realities."
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June 27, 2022
Cable Group Wants Retransmission Conditions On Tegna Deal
A major cable TV trade group has called on the Federal Communications Commission to prevent Tegna's potential new owners from wielding too much leverage in broadcast retransmission talks if their proposed $8.6 billion takeover of the broadcasting giant succeeds.
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June 27, 2022
No-Poach Case Nears Plea In Would-Be 1st DOJ Win
A health care staffing company and its former regional manager indicated Friday that they were nearing a Nevada federal court plea deal for allegedly scheming to suppress wages for Las Vegas school nurses, a resolution that would be the U.S. Department of Justice's first successful criminal prosecution of labor-side antitrust violations.
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June 27, 2022
UK Watchdog Ends Probe Of Vet Merger After Sale Promised
The U.K.'s competition enforcer will not deepen its investigation into the completed £20.4 million ($27.8 million) acquisition of a veterinary chain after the buyer agreed to unload the business in response to the agency's concerns about the tie-up.
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June 27, 2022
Justices Sit Out Apple's PTAB Standing Saga
Justices on the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear an appeal from Apple on the issue of standing to appeal Patent Trial and Appeal Board rulings, even though the case had received endorsement from tech companies and lawmakers including Sen. Patrick Leahy.
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June 27, 2022
Humana Wants To Add Federal Antitrust Claims To Zetia Case
Humana Inc. asked a Virginia federal court for permission to add claims under federal antitrust law to its case accusing Merck and Glenmark of scheming to delay generic forms of the cholesterol drug Zetia.
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June 27, 2022
Frontier Urges Spirit Investors To Approve $6.6B Merger
Frontier Airlines Inc. published an open letter to Spirit Airlines investors Monday, urging them to approve the $6.6 billion merger between the two companies at a special shareholder meeting this week and reject the "opportunistic" bid from JetBlue for Spirit.
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June 24, 2022
Costco Can't Subpoena Itself To Use Chicken Docs In Arb.
An Illinois federal magistrate judge refused Thursday to let Costco Wholesale Corp. "circumvent" confidentiality protections for documents in a sprawling antitrust lawsuit accusing major chicken producers of price-fixing, documents Costco wanted to use in parallel arbitration against Tyson Foods Inc.
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June 24, 2022
DOJ Approves Dish And T-Mobile's Network Shutdown Deal
The U.S. Department of Justice has signed off on an agreement between T-Mobile and Dish that updates the terms related to Dish's use of the telecommunications giant's wireless network, the companies indicated in Thursday filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
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June 24, 2022
Duke Energy $59M Contract Dispute Slimmed, Heads To Trial
A federal judge on Friday said a dispute over terms of a soured $59 million contract between Duke Energy Corp. and a competitor in the Carolinas must go to trial, holding that the suit requires a careful evaluation of the facts.
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June 24, 2022
Dr. Reddy's Gets $72M In Generic Suboxone Settlement
Indivior, Aquestive and Dr. Reddy's Laboratories have ended their yearslong litigation battle over generic versions of the opioid addiction treatment Suboxone, with the Indian drugmaker on Friday saying it will receive $72 million by April 2024.
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June 24, 2022
Attys Seek $66M Fee In $160M Capacitor Maker Antitrust Deal
Attorneys for a class of direct purchasers of capacitors asked a California federal court Thursday to approve $66 million in fees as a part of a proposed settlement in which Nippon Chemi-Con and its U.S. subsidiary would pay $160 million to end antitrust claims.
Editor's Picks
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Merger Cases, Issues To Watch In 2022
As the U.S. antitrust agencies gear-up for what's expected to be a push for more aggressive antitrust enforcement under their new permanent leaders in 2022, enforcers will also be continuing work on several recently filed high-profile challenges, while litigating a handful of cases held-over from the previous administration. Here, Law360 takes a look at the merger reviews and other developments to watch in the coming year.
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The Antitrust Conduct Cases To Watch In 2022
U.S. antitrust enforcers carried out dramatic efforts to combat anticompetitive conduct last year, and all signs show that the aggressive efforts will continue in 2022. Among the areas to watch will be criminal and civil cases accusing companies of anticompetitive collusion to restrict their workers' wages and mobility. Important developments in the cases against Big Tech and a key decision on the intellectual property strategies of pharmaceutical giants are also expected. Here, Law360 looks at the major antitrust conduct cases to watch in 2022.
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Bill Tracker: Competing Antitrust Legislation In Congress
A swell of populist frustration with the control that powerful corporations have over daily life and the economy, especially in the tech space, has spawned a deluge of legislation in Congress aimed at ramping up antitrust enforcement and encouraging competition to the dominant players.
Expert Analysis
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Tips For Managing Pre-Merger Information Exchanges
Excerpt from Practical Guidance
During merger discussions and negotiations, eight strategies can help manage the exchange of competitively sensitive information, including hiring a clean team and awareness of overlaps, says Tim Haney at LexisNexis.
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Opinion
Now's The Time To Address Archaic Law School Curricula
With law school enrollments jumping significantly ahead of a potential recession and more students graduating than the market can absorb, law schools should turn to creative solutions to teach students how to negotiate, work with clients, specialize and use technology to practice their craft more efficiently, says University of Colorado adjunct professor Jason Mendelson.
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The Case For Company-Directed Offensive ESG Litigation
Rather than treat environmental, social and governance litigation as a source of liability, there is a serious benefit for companies and their lawyers to evaluate and pursue offensive ESG litigation, says Bob Koneck at Woodsford.
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Proposed Online Platform Regs Deviate From Antitrust Norms
The U.S. and EU are on the cusp of adopting digital platform legislation that would impose regulations based solely on firms' size, avoiding traditional antitrust principles and potentially changing the way online platforms' conduct is litigated, say Daniel Fenske at Mayer Brown and Felipe Pereira at Tauil Chequer.
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Lessons From Lawyer Fee-Sharing Agreements Gone Wrong
The recent fee-sharing dispute between Edelson and Girardi Keese is a reminder that lawyers who do not strictly follow the applicable rules may risk a disciplinary complaint, lose their share of the fee, or wind up in costly litigation with co-counsel, says David Grossbaum at Hinshaw.
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LeClairRyan Bankruptcy Highlights Pass-Through Tax Issue
A Virginia bankruptcy court's recent ruling in the case of defunct law firm LeClairRyan shows there may be serious tax consequences for pass-through entity partners who give up their ownership interest without following operating agreement exit provisions and updating bankruptcy court filings, say Edward Schnitzer and Hannah Travaglini at Montgomery McCracken.
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Enforcement Trends To Watch After SEP Remedies Withdrawal
Patent holders and implementers will need to consider several key issues in light of the new case-by-case federal enforcement stance following the withdrawal of the 2019 policy statement on standard-essential patents and the recent decision not to implement a new policy statement, say Alexander Okuliar and John Lanham at MoFo.
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8 Steps To Creating A Legal Ops Technology Road Map
Legal departments struggling to find and implement the right technologies for their operations should consider creating a road map that summarizes their approach to technology changes, provides clearly defined metrics for success, and serves as the single source of truth for stakeholders, says Melanie Shafer at SimpleLegal.
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The Importance Of Data And Data Analysis In Litigation
Understanding, analyzing and effectively presenting large data sets is an increasingly important skill in litigation as it allows plaintiffs to dramatically scale up the scope of cases and is often critical to defeating motions to dismiss and motions for summary judgment, says David Burnett at Motley Rice.
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Vet Clinic FTC Settlement Puts Private Equity On Notice
Prior approval and prior notice requirements in the Federal Trade Commission's settlement for a $1.1 billion merger of veterinary clinics illustrate the majority-Democratic commission's skepticism over private equity's general business model, say Bruce Sokler and Tinny Song at Mintz.
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Navigating The Void Left By Withdrawn SEP Policy Statement
While the withdrawal of the 2019 policy statement on standard-essential patents and the decision not to implement a new policy statement leave both SEP holders and implementers without guidance as to how the agencies will view these disputes, we can gain some insights by examining how we got here, says Ryan Richardson at Sterne Kessler.
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Steps Companies Can Take To Mitigate Privilege Labeling Risk
Although Google prevailed on a recent privilege labeling sanctions motion, an important takeaway from the decision is that companies should assess their in-house procedures and employee training programs regarding privileged communications to mitigate risks of the potential appearance of bad faith privilege claims, say Gareth Evans at Redgrave and e-discovery attorney James Hertsch.
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What Litigation Funding Disclosure In Delaware May Look Like
A standing order issued by Delaware's chief federal judge requiring litigants to disclose whether their cases or defenses are being financed by third parties is unlikely to have onerous effects but may raise questions regarding potential conflicts of interest and access to justice, say Cayse Llorens and Matthew Oxman at LexShares.
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How To Avert Unlawful Poaching Amid Rising Antitrust Risks
Despite the uptick in labor market antitrust enforcement actions, no-poach agreements can be helpful in preventing unfair competition resulting from misuse of confidential or competitively sensitive information — when tailored appropriately and used with best practices to reduce risk, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.
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SEC Constitutionality Ruling May Embolden FTC Targets
The Fifth Circuit's recent Jarkesy v. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission decision — that restrictions insulating administrative law judges from removal, among other policies dictating agency procedures, are unconstitutional — may also apply to the Federal Trade Commission, giving companies strong procedural arguments to disrupt enforcement proceedings against them, say attorneys at Kirkland.