Competition

  • September 26, 2024

    Helicopter-Maker Claims Supplier Had 'Reliability Issues'

    A former Fort Worth, Texas-based Bell Helicopter Textron Inc. engineer claimed a supplier at the center of a $100 million trade secrets lawsuit delivered parts that had "reliability issues," saying Thursday during a trial in Texas state court that the supplier had long-standing problems.

  • September 26, 2024

    FCC Opens Airwaves For NGSO Fixed Satellite Services

    The Federal Communications Commission agreed Thursday to set aside a swath of spectrum in the 17 gigahertz band for non-geostationary orbit fixed satellite services, a move the agency says will advance competition and high-speed connectivity.

  • September 26, 2024

    Visa Case Continues Antitrust Focus On 'Middlemen'

    The antitrust case filed by the U.S. Department of Justice against Visa on Tuesday is the administration's latest attack on commercial "middlemen" that enforcers say contribute to high consumer prices by using their dominance to charge inflated fees.

  • September 26, 2024

    NC Medical Equipment Maker Can't Ditch Unfair Biz Suit

    The North Carolina Business Court has denied a medical equipment maker's bid to get a win based on the pleadings in a fraudulent concealment and unfair trade practices lawsuit alleging that it stole the business model and a pregnancy support garment design from a rival.

  • September 26, 2024

    New UFC Settlement Separates Cases, Ups Payout To $375M

    The UFC and its fighters have reached a revised settlement that upsizes the payout to $375 million, resolving a portion of their long dispute over wages and leaving claims from a similar class action unresolved, the organization said Thursday.

  • September 26, 2024

    Qualcomm Eyes Massive Buyout Of Intel, Plus Other Rumors

    Qualcomm has approached struggling rival Intel with a takeover offer, Chevron's $53 billion acquisition proposal for Hess is expected to win regulatory clearance, and private Equity Firm BC Partners wants to buy a minority stake in EuroLeague. Here, Law360 breaks down these and other notable deal rumors from the past week.

  • September 26, 2024

    Tereos Fined For Disclosure Failings During Merger Review

    Britain's antitrust enforcer said Thursday that it has fined conglomerate Tereos for failing to provide information during its probe into the planned purchase of its U.K. business by food company Tate & Lyle.

  • September 25, 2024

    Developer's NorCal Spree Ends With Fraud Claims In Ch. 11

    Northern California real estate company LeFever Mattson stockpiled more than $400 million in real estate, including several local landmarks in a small town north of San Francisco. The firm now seeks bankruptcy protection amid claims following an alleged scheme by one executive to pocket millions by selling bunk equity stakes to investors.

  • September 25, 2024

    Google 'Less Expensive' Than Ad Tech Rivals, Economist Says

    A Yale economist told a Virginia federal judge Wednesday that the Justice Department's estimates of how much Google allegedly bilked website publishers using its online advertising placement technology don't add up.

  • September 25, 2024

    Google Files EC Complaint Against Microsoft Cloud Business

    Google has lodged an antitrust complaint against Microsoft with the European Commission Wednesday, claiming that Microsoft's dominant software products illegally lock customers into its cloud computing platform Azure, allowing it to drive up costs and stifle innovation.

  • September 25, 2024

    US Steel Clears One Hurdle In $14B Nippon Steel Deal

    An arbitration board has sided with U.S. Steel amid its union's challenge to a planned $14.9 billion acquisition by Nippon Steel, clearing one hurdle while Nippon continues fighting on another front for approval from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S.  

  • September 25, 2024

    Blank Rome Faces DQ Bid Over Alleged Tampering

    An attorney suing three lawyers from Blank Rome LLP wants the firm's other attorneys disqualified from representing their colleagues, accusing them of improperly contacting a plaintiff's expert witness to intimidate him into no longer participating in the case.

  • September 25, 2024

    FCC Closer To Opening Airwaves, But Auctions Still In Limbo

    President Joe Biden's communications regulators are still pushing to get prized spectrum into the hands of private companies, but the window for regaining legal authority to auction the airwaves this year will soon close, and the next White House administration will face challenges too.

  • September 25, 2024

    EU States Must Unify Divergent Biz Rules, Majority Says

    The European Union must double down on unifying its divergent rules for businesses in a policy proposal next year because the bloc's main competitive advantage is its single market, almost three-quarters of EU countries told the bloc's executive arm.

  • September 25, 2024

    US Antitrust Holds Fast: No 'Environmental Justice' Goals

    A top Federal Trade Commission official in her latest address to antitrust lawyers offered little comfort to U.S. companies seeking to collaborate on environmental initiatives.

  • September 25, 2024

    Crypto-Investors Can't Appeal Parts Of £10B Class Action

    The Competition Appeal Tribunal has denied crypto-investors permission to challenge its decision to dismiss parts of their claim over the approval of a £9.9 billion ($13 billion) collective action against Binance and other trading platforms.

  • September 24, 2024

    Dentons Accused Of Hacking Laptop, Aiding Vape Co. Usurper

    Dentons helped the founder of vape distributor Next Level sabotage and usurp manufacturer Avid Holdings' brand, including breaking into its founder's laptop to access confidential information, Avid alleged in a sprawling lawsuit filed Tuesday in California federal court.

  • September 24, 2024

    Adult Actresses' Blacklist Suit Against Meta Nixed Before Trial

    A California federal judge has dismissed a case claiming Meta conspired with OnlyFans and blacklisted adult entertainers who used competitors' risque platforms weeks before its October trial date, saying he had "no choice" and did so despite the social media giant's "questionable recordkeeping."

  • September 24, 2024

    Cathode Ray Class Attys Fight Over Fees At 9th Circ.

    Plaintiffs firm Cooper & Kirkham urged the Ninth Circuit Tuesday to reverse a ruling slashing its $3.452 million fee award in since-settled cathode ray tube price-fixing multidistrict litigation, arguing the firm was being unfairly punished for representing a subclass, while lead class counsel slammed the firm's tactics as "extreme mischief."

  • September 24, 2024

    Helicopter Maker Skirted FAA Requirements, Jury Hears

    Fort Worth-based Bell Helicopter Textron Inc. used a former vendor's trade secrets to skirt the need for regulatory approval, a jury heard in Texas state court Tuesday, allegedly avoiding requirements set by the Federal Aviation Administration as the company pulled the rug out from under its old vendor.

  • September 24, 2024

    Invitation Homes Agrees To $48M Settlement With FTC

    The Federal Trade Commission said it has struck a $48 million agreement with Invitation Homes Inc. to settle claims against the nation's largest single-family home landlord, including that it deceived people about leasing costs and junk fees, failed to inspect and repair homes as promised, and unfairly held on to security deposits.

  • September 24, 2024

    Fired United Rentals Worker Denies Competing In New Job

    United Rentals Inc. cannot show that it suffered irreparable harm when an ex-employee started working for a new company after he was fired, and even if it could, his noncompete agreement is unenforceable, the worker said in a filing in Connecticut state court that seeks to stave off a preliminary injunction.

  • September 24, 2024

    Google Expert Targets DOJ's Ad Tech 'Mistakes And Omissions'

    A Nobel Economics Prize-winning auctions expert on Tuesday criticized the U.S. Justice Department's monopolization case targeting Google's online advertising placement technology, telling a Virginia federal court that it was based on a fundamental misunderstanding of how the allegedly harmful auctions work.

  • September 24, 2024

    Wash. Justices Dubious Of Moonlighting Ban Loophole

    Washington state Supreme Court justices expressed doubt Tuesday that the state's moonlighting protections included an exception allowing companies to ban employees from other businesses in the same industry, saying that would contradict the noncompete statute's aim of supporting mobility for low-wage earners.

  • September 24, 2024

    Buyers Seek $97M Fees From $335M Drug Price-Fixing Deals

    A class of direct purchaser plaintiffs in the multidistrict antitrust litigation over generic drug pricing asked a Pennsylvania federal judge Monday to award them $97 million in fees across six settlements with pharmaceutical firms, arguing its attorneys "spent the better part of a decade and hundreds of thousands of hours litigating this case."

Expert Analysis

  • How 5 States' Deal Notification Laws Are Guiding Healthcare

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    Healthcare transaction notification laws at various stages of implementation in California, Illinois, Indiana, Oregon and Washington are shaping sector mergers and acquisitions, with significant transparency, continuity of care and compliance implications as providers tackle complex regulatory requirements, says Melesa Freerks at DLA Piper.

  • Think Like A Lawyer: Dance The Legal Standard Two-Step

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    From rookie brief writers to Chief Justice John Roberts, lawyers should master the legal standard two-step — framing the governing standard at the outset, and clarifying why they meet that standard — which has benefits for both the drafter and reader, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.

  • Takeaways From Tossed Deal In Visa, Mastercard Class Action

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    Given the rejection of a proposed deal in the long-running merchant antitrust class action against Visa and Mastercard in New York federal court, sweetening the proposed settlement pot likely will not be an option, leaving few possible outcomes including splitting the class and allowing opt-outs, say attorneys at Davis Wright.

  • How Orange Book Antitrust Scrutiny Is Intensifying

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    Pharmaceutical patent holders should be reviewing Orange Book listing practices, as the Federal Trade Commission takes a more aggressive antitrust approach with actions such as the Teva listing probe, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration calls attention to potentially improper listings, say attorneys at McDermott.

  • Opinion

    OFAC Sanctions Deserve To Be Challenged Post-Chevron

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's Loper Bright decision opens the door to challenges against the Office of Foreign Assets Control's sanctions regime, the unintended consequences of which raise serious questions about the wisdom of what appears to be a scorched-earth approach, says Solomon Shinerock at Lewis Baach.

  • Behind The Delay Of Final HSR Premerger Filing Rules

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    Erin Toomey at Epiq discusses the wait for the final version of the revised Hart-Scott-Rodino premerger filing requirements that were first introduced in June 2023, the factors that might be behind the delay, and how to plan for the potential data-focused rule change

  • Opinion

    The FTC Needs To Challenge The Novo-Catalent Deal

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    Novo's acquisition of Catalent threatens to substantially lessen competition in the manufacturing and marketing of GLP-1 diabetes and obesity drugs, and the Federal Trade Commission should challenge it under a vertical theory of harm, as it aligns with last year's merger guidelines and the Fifth Circuit decision in Illumina, says attorney David Balto.

  • Series

    Being A Luthier Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    When I’m not working as an appellate lawyer, I spend my spare time building guitars — a craft known as luthiery — which has helped to enhance the discipline, patience and resilience needed to write better briefs, says Rob Carty at Nichols Brar.

  • Series

    After Chevron: Uncertainty In Scope Of ITC Oversight

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    The U.S. International Trade Commission's long-standing jurisprudence on some of the most disputed and controversial issues is likely to be reshaped by the Federal Circuit, which is no longer bound by Chevron deference in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Loper Bright decision, say Kecia Reynolds and Madeleine Moss at Paul Hastings.

  • Lead Like 'Ted Lasso' By Embracing Cognitive Diversity

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    The Apple TV+ series “Ted Lasso” aptly illustrates how embracing cognitive diversity can be a winning strategy for teams, providing a useful lesson for law firms, which can benefit significantly from fresh, diverse perspectives and collaborative problem-solving, says Paul Manuele at PR Manuele Consulting.

  • Takeaways From EU's Initial Findings On Apple's App Store

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    A deep dive into the European Commission's recent preliminary findings that Apple's App Store rules are in breach of the Digital Markets Act reveal that enforcement of the EU's Big Tech law might go beyond the literal text of the regulation and more toward the spirit of compliance, say William Dolan and Pratik Agarwal at Rule Garza.

  • A Simple Proposal For Improving E-Discovery In MDLs

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    Given the importance of e-discovery in multidistrict litigation, courts, parties and counsel shouldn't have to reinvent the wheel in each newly consolidated case — and a simple process for sharing e-discovery lessons and knowledge across MDLs could benefit everyone involved, particularly clients, say Benjamin Barnett and Shauna Itri at Seeger Weiss.

  • Opinion

    Now More Than Ever, Lawyers Must Exhibit Professionalism

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    As society becomes increasingly fractured and workplace incivility is on the rise, attorneys must champion professionalism and lead by example, demonstrating how lawyers can respectfully disagree without being disagreeable, says Edward Casmere at Norton Rose.

  • A Look At State AGs Supermarket Antitrust Enforcement Push

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    The ongoing antitrust intervention by state attorneys general in the proposed Kroger and Albertsons merger suggests that states are straying from a Federal Trade Commission follow-on strategy in the supermarket space, which involved joining federal investigations or lawsuits and settling for the same divestment remedies, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.

  • The Show Must Go On: Noncompete Uncertainty In Film, TV

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    The Federal Trade Commission has taken action to ban noncompetes while the entertainment industry is in the midst of a massive shift away from traditional media, so it is important for studio heads and content owners alike to understand the fate of the rule and their options going forward, say Christopher Chatham and Douglas Smith at Manatt.

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