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Competition
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Featured
JetBlue-Spirit Deal Trial Wraps As Judge Mulls Middle Ground
While hearing closing arguments in a monthlong bench trial, a Massachusetts federal judge weighed Tuesday whether he could strike a balance between permanently barring a proposed $3.8 billion merger between JetBlue Airways Corp. and Spirit Airlines and letting the deal go through as is.
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December 05, 2023
Philips Settles Claim Rival's Worker Hacked Ultrasound Tech
A California federal judge on Monday tossed Philips North America's copyright suit alleging a competitor's former employee stole ultrasound technology by hacking into its software, after the parties agreed to settle the dispute last week.
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December 05, 2023
Parties In Healthcare Antitrust Suit Told To List Depo Targets
An Illinois federal court on Tuesday ordered DaVita Inc., a UnitedHealth Group unit and two of the unit's former senior employees to provide a list of people they seek to depose in an antitrust suit accusing the healthcare companies of an anti-competitive no-poach scheme.
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December 05, 2023
Google, Amazon Raise Microsoft Cloud Concerns In UK
Google and Amazon both told Britain's competition enforcer that the cloud services market is generally functioning well but contended Microsoft's licensing practices block competition and deserve a close look during a market investigation of the sector that the agency is undertaking.
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December 05, 2023
Trade Group Says About Time FCC Hikes Broadband Speeds
Network trade group Incompas is throwing its weight behind the Federal Communications Commission's plan to hike the upload and download speeds required to qualify as broadband service, with the eventual goal of getting the download speed all the way to 1 gigabit from the current 25 megabits per second.
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December 05, 2023
Bristol-Myers Decries Blue Cross Unit's Last-Minute Dropout
Celgene and parent Bristol-Myers Squibb expressed frustration Tuesday about the timing of a Blue Cross unit's decision to bow out as a plaintiff in New Jersey federal court antitrust litigation accusing the drugmakers of delaying generic competition to blockbuster cancer treatments, raising concerns the insurer might shirk its discovery obligations.
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December 05, 2023
Wright Files Title IX Action As Judge Tosses $108M Suit
Former Federal Trade Commission member, BigLaw partner and law professor Joshua Wright has filed a lawsuit against George Mason University over its handling of sexual misconduct accusations against him just a day before a judge dismissed Wright's defamation complaint against two of the alleged misconduct victims in Virginia state court.
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December 05, 2023
2nd Circ. Doubts Broadway Producer's Union Blacklist Suit
A Second Circuit panel appeared unlikely on Tuesday to revive an embattled Broadway producer's antitrust lawsuit challenging his placement on the Actors' Equity Association's "do not work" list, saying it seems clear that the union acted appropriately after actors alleged wage violations and a toxic work environment.
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December 05, 2023
FTC Seeks More Info On $60B Pioneer, Exxon Deal
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has issued second requests for more information from both Pioneer Natural Resources and Exxon Mobil Corp. regarding their planned $59.5 billion merger, Pioneer revealed in a securities filing Tuesday.
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December 04, 2023
Spanish Media Hits Meta With €550M Suit Over Ad Targeting
An association representing more than 80 Spanish media outlets has become the latest to challenge Meta Platform Inc.'s advertising practices, lodging a €550 million ($596 million) lawsuit Monday that accuses the social media giant of building its dominant position in the market by ignoring the European Union's data protection rules.
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December 04, 2023
Alaska-Hawaiian Airlines Merger Tests Biden Antitrust Stance
Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines' proposal to create a strong regional rival to the nation's so-called Big Four carriers will be another test for the Biden administration's aggressive antitrust enforcers, but experts say it's unclear whether fewer overlapping routes and a promise to keep their distinct brands will smooth over regulatory hurdles.
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December 04, 2023
FTC Sues 7-Eleven, Alleging Violation of 2018 Consent Order
The Federal Trade Commission is suing 7-Eleven for buying a Florida fuel outlet without giving prior notice, alleging the purchase violated a 2018 consent order.
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December 04, 2023
Judge Says Attys Misused Emergency Email To Seal Antitrust Docs
The Illinois federal judge overseeing an antitrust suit accusing elite universities of conspiring to restrict student aid chewed out attorneys involved with the case on Sunday for using the court's emergency inbox to send a "terse" email late Friday night that requested — unconvincingly — part of an unidentified court filing be placed under seal.
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December 04, 2023
Leave The Courtroom Doors Open, Says Apple Foe
Apple and lawyers for a small startup that accuses the tech giant of illegally blocking it from the smartwatch marketplace are fighting over how accessible a key hearing in the case will be.
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December 04, 2023
Alon Tells 9th Circ. Sanctions Needed In Gas Price-Fixing Win
An attorney for Alon USA Energy urged the Ninth Circuit on Monday to reverse a lower court's ruling that denied the company sanctions in two gasoline price-fixing suits it ultimately won on summary judgment, saying the evidence shows the plaintiffs knew for years the allegations against Alon were false.
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December 04, 2023
AstraZeneca Criticizes HHS For Bid To Skirt Drug Price Suit
AstraZeneca has chided the federal government for seeking a quick win against the drugmaker's challenge to the Medicare drug price negotiation program in a recent brief, arguing that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services mistakenly believes it has "absolute authority to unilaterally dictate prices."
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December 04, 2023
Gov't Contractors Sentenced In $8M Bid-Rigging Scheme
A Georgia federal judge has sentenced two military contractors for using false bids to secure Pentagon contracts worth almost $8 million, a month after a co-conspirator was hit with a four-month sentence, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Monday.
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December 04, 2023
Disney Again Targets ESPN Streaming Bundles Suit
Disney urged a California federal judge to nix a proposed antitrust class action targeting live-streaming carriage agreements forbidding ESPN's exclusion from cheap bundling packages, arguing that tweaks to the subscribers' suit can't save previously nixed damages claims and that the judge should've tossed the entirety of the suit.
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December 04, 2023
FICO Says Revised Antitrust Suit Still Falls Flat
Fair Isaac Corp. has told an Illinois federal judge that customers who were allowed to amend their lawsuit claiming the credit bureau monopolizes the credit scoring market have failed to "fill the gap" in earlier deficient allegations, and said the terms of its licensing agreements with major credit bureaus doom their lawsuit.
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December 04, 2023
Google Says SC Agency Waived Immunity From Doc Request
Google has told the Fourth Circuit a South Carolina agency needs to hand over documents about its digital advertising activity because the state waived its sovereign immunity by suing the company for allegedly monopolizing key digital advertising technology.
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December 04, 2023
FTC's Amazon Case Contains Fundamental Deficiencies
The Federal Trade Commission is unlikely to succeed in its allegations that Amazon "uses its power to hike prices on American shoppers," because of deficiencies in the case that prove the agency's antitrust stance places competitors over consumer welfare, says attorney and former U.S. Department of Justice official Bruce Fein.
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December 04, 2023
Hilton Sued In DC Over Hidden Fees For Hotel Rooms
A traveler advocacy group is suing Hilton over claims that the hotel chain tricks guests into forking over "junk fees" late in the booking process, claiming the practice violates Washington, D.C., consumer protection law.
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December 04, 2023
Caterpillar Pushes Again For Sanctions In Antitrust Suit
Caterpillar is moving for sanctions in its long-running antitrust dispute with International Construction Products, telling a Delaware federal judge that the now-defunct equipment supplier, which is accusing Caterpillar of tortious interference and boycott claims, failed to preserve important documents as employees left and the company shuttered.
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December 04, 2023
NC Bank Accuses Ex-VP, Administrator Of Looting Client Info
A North Carolina community bank is suing a former vice president in its wealth management division and a former administrator for allegedly absconding with a slew of client information when they quit to work for a competitor earlier this year.
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December 01, 2023
Judge Slams Google's 'Deeply Troubling' Tactics As Trial Ends
A California federal judge overseeing the antitrust trial between Epic Games Inc. and Google LLC said Friday he's concerned that Google's willful destruction of evidence and "bogus" privilege assertions constitute a "frontal assault on the administration of justice," and that jury instructions in the newly wrapped trial will reflect the company's "deeply disturbing" behavior.
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December 01, 2023
Fighters Say UFC Can't Avoid Wage Suppression Trial
Ultimate Fighting Championship fighters assailed the company for trying to avoid trial next year on antitrust claims alleging it suppressed wages by up to $1.6 billion through coercive, exclusive contracts and the purchase of rival promoters, telling a Nevada federal judge UFC's arguments for dismissal are deeply contradictory.
Editor's Picks
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New Merger Guidelines 'Want To Turn Back The Clock'
The Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission put two-plus years of Biden-era merger theories on paper Wednesday in draft guidelines they hope will help shape a fundamental transformation of U.S. antitrust enforcement, but experts say the guidance may run into the same limitations those theories already have encountered in court.
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2023 Is Far From Done With Government Merger Cases
Even as they reel from major setbacks to their efforts to fundamentally beef up U.S. antitrust enforcement, the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Federal Trade Commission will round out 2023 with more merger trials — many of which face similarly nettlesome hurdles that could derail the upcoming government cases, too.
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DOJ's Merger Record Improves & Other Early 2023 Highlights
One outright win and one settlement so far this year provided a partial turnaround in the Biden Justice Department's track record in litigated merger challenges.
Expert Analysis
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7 Critical Copyright And AI Questions Courts Need To Address
U.S. courts have yet to rule on many copyright issues regarding generative artificial intelligence technologies, so developers and users should consider several questions when evaluating risks, developing risk mitigation plans and making decisions about particular use cases, say John Delaney and Sean West at Perkins Coie.
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Mitigating Antitrust Risk Amid Increased Dealmaking Scrutiny
While deals continue to get done despite a 60% increase in significant merger investigations in the U.S. last year as agencies moved away from settlements, private equity firms should identify and assess potential antitrust risks and develop strategies to mitigate them early in the deal process, say attorneys at Dechert.
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Opinion
Legal Profession Gender Parity Requires Equal Parental Leave
To truly foster equity in the legal profession and to promote attorney retention, workplaces need to better support all parents, regardless of gender — starting by offering equal and robust parental leave to both birthing and non-birthing parents, says Ali Spindler at Irwin Fritchie.
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Managing ANDA Venue Issues As Del. And NJ Filings Rise
Delaware and New Jersey have prevailed as the primary forum for pharmaceutical litigation as more generic companies file abbreviated new drug applications, but this venue scheme presents traps for the unwary, and legislation may still be necessary to ensure fairness and predictability, say Timothy Cook and Kevin Yurkerwich at WilmerHale.
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Series
Writing Thriller Novels Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Authoring several thriller novels has enriched my work by providing a fresh perspective on my privacy practice, expanding my knowledge, and keeping me alert to the next wave of issues in an increasingly complex space — a reminder to all lawyers that extracurricular activities can help sharpen professional instincts, says Reece Hirsch at Morgan Lewis.
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What Lawyers Must Know About Calif. State Bar's AI Guidance
Initial recommendations from the State Bar of California regarding use of generative artificial intelligence by lawyers have the potential to become a useful set of guidelines in the industry, covering confidentiality, supervision and training, communications, discrimination and more, say attorneys at Debevoise.
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Industry Must Elevate Native American Women Attys' Stories
The American Bar Association's recent research study into Native American women attorneys' experiences in the legal industry reveals the glacial pace of progress, and should inform efforts to amplify Native voices in the field, says Mary Smith, president of the ABA.
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Understanding Discovery Obligations In Era Of Generative AI
Excerpt from Practical Guidance
Attorneys and businesses must adapt to the unique discovery challenges presented by generative artificial intelligence, such as chatbot content and prompts, while upholding the principles of fairness, transparency and compliance with legal obligations in federal civil litigation, say attorneys at King & Spalding.
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Why Criminal No-Poach Cases Can Be Deceptively Complex
Mark Rosman at Wilson Sonsini discusses the reasons many criminal no-poach cases that appear simple are actually more complicated than they seem, following several jury trial acquittals and two dismissed cases.
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Forecasting The Impact Of High Court Debit Card Rule Case
John Delionado and Aidan Gross at Hunton consider how the U.S. Supreme Court's forthcoming ruling in a retailer's suit challenging a Federal Reserve rule on debit card swipe fees could affect agency regulations both new and old, as well as the businesses that might seek to challenge them.
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The Case For Post-Bar Clerk Training Programs At Law Firms
In today's competitive legal hiring market, an intentionally designed training program for law school graduates awaiting bar admission can be an effective way of creating a pipeline of qualified candidates, says Brent Daub at Gilson Daub.
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What's At Stake In Bystolic 'Side Deals' Litigation
In re: Bystolic Antitrust Litigation, which has oral argument set for next month, will likely shed light on how the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit views side deals, and could create a circuit split in pleading standards for reverse payment cases, say attorneys at Axinn.
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Attorneys Have An Ethical Duty To Protect The Judiciary
The tenor of public disagreement and debate has become increasingly hostile against judges, and though the legislative branch is trying to ameliorate this safety gap, lawyers have a moral imperative and professional requirement to stand with judges in defusing attacks against them and their rulings, says Deborah Winokur at Cozen O'Connor.
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Cross-Market Implications In FTC's Anesthesia Complaint
The Federal Trade Commission's recent complaint against a private equity firm's acquisition of anesthesiology practices highlights the controversial issue of cross-market harm in health care provider mergers, and could provide important insights into how a court may view such theories of harm, say Christopher Lau and Dina Older Aguilar at Cornerstone Research.
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FTC Orange Book Move Signals New Pharma Patent Scrutiny
The Federal Trade Commission's recent dispute against improper listing of drug patents in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Orange Book indicates heightened surveillance of the pharmaceutical industry, particularly where competition-related consequences of patent or regulatory processes are concerned, say attorneys at Fenwick.