Competition

  • January 27, 2025

    FCC No Longer Mulling Broadband Bulk Billing Restrictions

    With the Federal Communications Commission now under Republican leadership, the agency has decided to pull its plan to restrict bulk billing for broadband services from the FCC's regulatory agenda.

  • January 27, 2025

    'Guesswork' Dooms Class Cert. In Meta Privacy Antitrust Suit

    A California federal judge has refused to certify a class of consumers who say Meta would have to pay users for their data if it didn't lie about privacy safeguards, finding that the motion was undone by the opinions of an economist who cannot get from general economics to market reality.

  • January 27, 2025

    Pair Of Google Advertisers Must Arbitrate Ad Tech Claims

    A New York federal court found that a pair of advertisers will have to arbitrate their claims against Google instead of trying to represent a class in the multidistrict litigation accusing the tech giant of monopolizing key digital advertising technology.

  • January 27, 2025

    FTC Mired Startups, But Trump Brings Hope, Tech Group Says

    Aggressive antitrust enforcement gave startups fewer exit opportunities as large companies like Google, Amazon and Apple pulled back on acquisitions, according to a Monday report from the Computer & Communications Industry Association, yet the trade group's chief economist is optimistic things will change under President Donald Trump. 

  • January 27, 2025

    Pool Co. To Face Rival's Contempt Bid Over $16M Judgment

    A Chinese pool parts supplier will have to appear for a show cause hearing to address whether it should be held in contempt for allegedly funneling money out of the country to avoid paying a $16 million judgment, a North Carolina federal judge said Monday.

  • February 03, 2025

    Morgan Lewis Adds Competition, Finance Pros In London

    Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP said Monday it has hired specialists in competition and structured finance from Baker McKenzie and Akin Gump, respectively, as it looks to continue to expand across Europe.

  • January 27, 2025

    Ancora Seeks To Make US Steel 'Great Again' With New Board

    Ancora Holdings Group on Monday said it plans to make U.S. Steel "great again" by installing a new CEO and board at the company "committed to abandoning" the $14.9 billion proposed merger with Nippon Steel that was blocked by former President Joe Biden earlier this month. 

  • January 24, 2025

    Intuitive Doesn't Owe 'Free-Riding' Firm $140M, Expert Says

    Robotic surgery pioneer Intuitive Surgical isn't a monopolist since it competes with other surgery options and a "free-riding" surgical repair company isn't due up to $140 million in profits allegedly lost due to Intuitive blocking its unauthorized part-refurbishment service, an economist testified Friday in a California antitrust trial.

  • January 24, 2025

    Anschutz Gets Trade Secrets Trial Delayed Amid Sale Dispute

    A Colorado state judge on Friday delayed an upcoming trial in a trade secrets suit brought by Anschutz Exploration Corp., giving the parties more time to deal with a discovery fight over a recent sale that left the jurist "totally dumbfounded" and "furious" at a Denver oil prospector earlier this week.

  • January 24, 2025

    Amex GBT Faces Sept. Trial In DOJ Case Against $570M Deal

    A New York federal judge set a September trial date Friday for the U.S. Department of Justice suit challenging American Express Global Business Travel Inc.'s planned $570 million purchase of CWT Holdings LLC, rejecting company assertions of "exigencies" necessitating a decision by June.

  • January 24, 2025

    Ill. Judge OKs $35M More In College Aid-Fixing Settlements

    An Illinois federal judge flagged a communication he considered a potential first Friday as he swiftly approved another $35 million in financial aid-fixing settlements that allow two more schools to exit an antitrust suit claiming they conspired with other elite universities to limit their offerings.

  • January 24, 2025

    Biotech Co. Defends Antitrust Counterclaims Against Rival

    Biotech company Zymo Research Corp. is defending its claims that German diagnostic competitor Qiagen GmbH's infringement suit is nothing more than an attempt to discredit a competitor, saying Zymo offered to prove it wasn't ripping off Qiagen's tech, only to have Qiagen bury "its head in the sand" and file suit.

  • January 24, 2025

    Agri Stats Demands Details On DOJ's Info-Sharing Claims

    Agri Stats has accused the U.S. Department of Justice of refusing to identify specific data fields in the company's reports that allegedly allowed chicken, pork and turkey producers to exchange competitively sensitive information, as it readies its defense in the agency's antitrust case.

  • January 24, 2025

    FTC Says Noncompete Ban Defense Is Its Job, Not Intervenor's

    The Federal Trade Commission is urging the Fifth and Eleventh circuits not to permit an entrepreneurs group to intervene in support of the FTC's currently blocked noncompete ban in case the commission opts to abandon its defense, arguing Congress left it up to government agencies to defend their own regulations.

  • January 24, 2025

    Dow Argues Tech Firm's IP Suit Over Software Is Time-Barred

    The Dow Chemical Co. has urged an Ohio federal judge to rule in its favor in a dispute over proprietary polyethylene manufacturing software, arguing that ControlSoft Inc.'s suit ignores their more than 20-year business relationship and that the technology firm waited too long to bring trade secrets and copyright infringement claims.

  • January 24, 2025

    Capital One Named In Action Over Early-Year Service Outage

    Capital One has been hit with a proposed class action in Virginia federal court focused on a January service disruption that allegedly left consumers locked out of its systems.

  • January 24, 2025

    SAP Seeks Full 9th Circ. Rehearing Of Revived Tying Suit

    German software giant SAP is asking the Ninth Circuit to reconsider its revival of data analytics company Teradata's trade secrets and tying suit against it, saying the panel wrongly applied per se antitrust treatment to a "highly innovative software market."

  • January 24, 2025

    Blank Rome Attys Fight Lawyer's Bid For New Trial

    A team of Blank Rome LLP attorneys accused another attorney in Pennsylvania federal court of "seeking another bite at the apple" by moving for a new trial after a jury rejected her malicious litigation claims against the team and an aviation company.

  • January 24, 2025

    NC Gov. GC's Bio Boasts BigTech Battles, Merger Dustup

    Sarah Boyce has followed her boss from the North Carolina Attorney General's Office to the steps of the governor's mansion as his new general counsel, capping off more than four years of high-profile constitutional challenges that saw her arguing before the nation's highest court as well as multistate enforcement actions against industry giants like Google and TikTok.

  • January 24, 2025

    EU Approves Int'l Paper's $7.2B DS Smith Deal With Fix

    European enforcers said Friday they have approved International Paper Co.'s planned £5.8 billion ($7.2 billion) purchase of fellow packaging provider DS Smith PLC conditioned on the sale of several factories in regions where they currently overlap.

  • January 23, 2025

    Intuitive Judge Walks Back 'Inappropriate' Witness Instruction

    Counsel for Intuitive Surgical objected Thursday to a California federal judge's "inappropriate instruction" to a witness testifying in a trial over allegations it abused its market power by blocking hospitals from using a refurbished part for its surgery robot, prompting the judge to walk back the direction.

  • January 23, 2025

    Wash. Justices Back Workers' View On Moonlighting Law

    Washington's highest court clarified on Thursday that the state's moonlighting protections shield low-wage workers from noncompete terms that would outright ban them working for any competitor in any capacity, concluding that employers must narrowly tailor such restrictions to be line with employees' common-law duty of loyalty.

  • January 23, 2025

    GoodRx, PBMs Sued Over Alleged Generics Price-Fix Scheme

    GoodRx and pharmacy benefit managers, including CVS Caremark and Express Scripts, formed a "cartel" to execute a price-fixing scheme by sharing pricing information and agreeing not to outbid each other for reimbursement rates paid to pharmacies for generic drugs, alleges a proposed class action filed Wednesday in California federal court.

  • January 23, 2025

    Jump Trading Says Ex-Worker Stole IP For Blockchain Startup

    High-frequency trading firm and blockchain technology developer Jump Trading has filed a complaint seeking a preliminary injunction against a former software developer it claims is using Jump Trading's intellectual property to launch a competing project.

  • January 23, 2025

    Judge Inclined To OK Visa, Mastercard $197.5M ATM Fee Deal

    A D.C. federal judge seemed poised Thursday to give final blessing to a $197.5 million settlement resolving class action claims that Visa and Mastercard conspired with major banks to fix ATM access fees, but the judge said he needed more time to reflect on attorney fees.

Expert Analysis

  • Litigation Inspiration: Reframing Document Review

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    For attorneys — new ones especially — there is much fulfillment to find in document review by reflecting on how important, interesting and pleasant it can be, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.

  • Expect More State Scrutiny Of PE In Healthcare M&A

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    While a California bill that called for increased antitrust scrutiny of many healthcare private equity transactions was recently vetoed by the governor, state legislatures are likely to continue introducing similar laws, particularly if the Trump administration eases federal enforcement, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • How Boards And Officers Should Prep For New Trump Admin

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    In anticipation of President-elect Donald Trump's proposed tariffs and mass deportation campaign, company officers and board members should pursue proactive, comprehensive contingency planning to not only advance the best interests of the companies they serve, but to also properly exercise their fiduciary duty of care, say attorneys at Winston & Strawn.

  • Navigating 4th Circ.'s Antitrust Burden In Hybrid Relationships

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    The U.S. Supreme Court recently declined to review the Fourth Circuit's Brewbaker decision, a holding that heightens the burden on antitrust prosecutors when the target companies have a hybrid horizontal-vertical relationship, but diverges from other circuits, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.

  • Opinion

    FTC Actions In Oil Cases Go Against Its Own Rulemaking

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    Two recent Federal Trade Commission actions concerning the oil and gas industry appear to defy its own merger guidelines, with allegations that fall far short of the commission's own standard — raising serious questions about the agency's current approach, say attorneys at Clifford Chance.

  • Series

    Flying Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Achieving my childhood dream of flying airplanes made me a better lawyer — and a better person — because it taught me I can conquer difficult goals when I leave my comfort zone, focus on the demands of the moment and commit to honing my skills, says Ivy Cadle at Baker Donelson.

  • 9th Circ.'s High Bar May Limit Keyword Confusion TM Claims

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    A recent Ninth Circuit ruling that a law firm did not infringe upon a competitor’s trademarks by paying Google to promote its website when users searched for the rival’s name signals that plaintiffs likely can no longer win infringement suits by claiming competitive keyword advertising confuses internet-savvy consumers, say attorneys at Mitchell Silberberg.

  • Series

    Circus Arts Make Me A Better Lawyer

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    Performing circus arts has strengthened my ability to be more thoughtful, confident and grounded, all of which has enhanced my legal practice and allowed me to serve clients in a more meaningful way, says Bailey McGowan at Stinson.

  • FTC Focus: Zeroing In On Post-Election Labor Markets

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    The presidential election and the push-and-pull of the administrative state's reach are likely to affect the Federal Trade Commission's focus on labor markets, including the tenor of noncompete rule enforcement, say attorneys at Proskauer.

  • OpenAI's Patent Pledge Is Not All It Seems

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    A recent statement that OpenAI won't assert its own patents is more of an aspiration than an obligation, and should prompt practitioners to think deeply about the underlying legal mechanisms of patent and contract law when determining the effectiveness of similar nonassertion pledges, say attorneys at McDonnell Boehnen.

  • 3 Ways To Train Junior Lawyers In 30 Minutes Or Less

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    Today’s junior lawyers are experiencing a skills gap due to pandemic-era disruptions, but firms can help bring them up to speed by offering high-impact skill building content in bite-sized, interactive training sessions, say Stacey Schwartz at Katten, Diane Costigan at Winston & Strawn and Lauren Tierney at Freshfields.

  • Expect Surging Oil And Gas Industry Under New Trump Admin

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    Throughout his recent campaign, President-elect Donald Trump promised increased oil and natural gas production and reduced reliance on renewables — and his administration will likely bring more oil and gas dealmaking, faster federal permitting and attempts to roll back incentives for green energy, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • Opinion

    The Right Kind Of Deregulation In Commercial Airline Industry

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    Similar to the economic deregulation that occurred more than four decades ago during the Carter administration, the incoming Trump administration should restore the very limited federal regulatory role in the economics of the airline industry, says former U.S. transportation secretary James Burnley at Venable.

  • The Bar Needs More Clarity On The Discovery Objection Rule

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    Almost 10 years after Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 34 was amended, attorneys still seem confused about what they should include in objections to discovery requests, and until the rules committee provides additional clarity, practitioners must beware the steep costs of noncompliance, says Tristan Ellis at Shanies Law Office.

  • Marching In On Orange Book Drugs May Have Limited Effect

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    Statistical analysis shows that marching in on Orange Book drug patent holders to require additional licensees would have a relatively minimal impact on drug prices, and should be weighed against the harms it could have on pharmaceutical innovation, say researchers at Competition Dynamics.

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