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Capital One / Discover: Proposed Deal Sparks Antitrust Concerns

Written by Jonathan Rubin, Partner and Co-Founder of MoginRubin LLP Capital One's proposed $35.3 billion acquisition of Discover Financial pits any ...

February 28, 2024
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Cracking the College Sports “Cartel”: Good for Athletes, Competition, and the Games

Editor's Note: This article will appear in the spring issue of the Journal on Emerging Issues in Litigation, published by Fastcase Full Court Press. ...

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February 07, 2024
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Algorithmic Pricing Agents and Price-Fixing Facilitators: Antitrust Law's Latest Conundrum

Written by Jonathan Rubin, Partner and Co-Founder of MoginRubin LLP It is an application of artificial intelligence (“AI”) that many businesses, ...

November 17, 2023

Amazon Investors Critical of Company's Competitive Tactics

Amazon Inc. investors have delivered company leadership a suit for exposing the corporation to a “massive financial hit” caused by news of alleged ...

EU Updates Guidance on Antitrust Risks Posed by ESG Collaboration

Scrutiny of companies’ environmental, social, and governance (ESG) policies increasingly affects how companies do business, even firms with no clear ...

June 21, 2023

Proposed FTC Rule Would Ban Noncompete Clauses in Employment Contracts

Photo by Israel Adnrade on Unsplash The Federal Trade Commission has proposed a rule that would ban most non-compete clauses in employment contracts, ...

January 13, 2023

Exporting U.S. Antitrust Law: Are We Really Ready for NOPEC?

The year is 1979. Inflation and lines at the gas pumps caused by a revolution in Iran have stunned Americans. Driven to action, the International ...

December 06, 2022
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Harley-Davidson Facing Its Third Antitrust Class Action of the Year

The road back from the COVID-19 pandemic hasn’t been easy for Harley-Davidson. Although the company shipped more than 194,000 motorcycles globally ...

November 15, 2022

CFIUS Issues Penalty Guidelines for Enforcement

CFIUS has issued its first set of guidelines regarding the types of investment activity that could trigger penalties under the agency’s expanded ...

November 15, 2022

Equifax / Experian Corner Worker Verification Space, Would-Be Rivals Seek Probe

Since the mid-1990s, credit reporting in the U.S., which has its roots in the records of consumer accounts held by local merchants and small-town ...

November 14, 2022

Fifth Circuit Denies Antitrust Remedy to Manufacturer Denied License for Standard Essential Patents

To use the cellular telephone networks, automobile manufacturers install telematic control units containing a baseboard processor that relies on 2G, ...

June 24, 2022

Withdrawing Trump-Era Policy on Standard Essential Patents, Agencies Favor ‘Case by Case’ Approach

Patent law and antitrust law both promote innovation, albeit in very different ways. Patent law creates incentives by granting inventors the right to ...

June 13, 2022
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Defense Department Takes Aim at Anticompetitive Mergers in Defense Industry

In 1990, the Department of Defense could turn to 13 companies to produce tactical missiles, eight to make fixed-wing aircraft, and another eight to ...

Heads Up, Drinkers: Government Says You're Paying Too Much

Intentionally or not, the federal government may have landed on an issue that can bring the Right and Left together: the price of beer, wine, and ...

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FTC Pledges Crackdown on Anticompetitive Mergers and Acquisitions

Prior approval is once again standard practice. The Federal Trade Commission has resuscitated its long-dormant policy of routinely restricting ...

December 02, 2021
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Tech “Platforms” Would Have to Prove Acquisitions Are Good for Competition Under Proposed Bipartisan, Bicameral Laws

Despite agreeing on almost nothing, Democrats and Republicans have found a common cause: the anticompetitive tactics of dominant digital platforms. ...

November 10, 2021
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FTC Chair: Tech Giants Operate Under the Radar to Buy Market Power

Since February 2020, staff members at the Federal Trade Commission have been studying past acquisitions by Google, Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and ...

FTC's HSR Merger Reviews: Expect Delays

Facing what it calls a “tidal wave” of merger filings, the Federal Trade Commission has warned companies that Hart-Scott-Rodino Act reviews will now ...

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Non-Compete Agreements Stifle Wages, Biden Seeks to Hasten Their Demise

President Biden’s July 9, 2021, Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy reflects a movement toward greater enforcement of ...

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MoginRubin Antitrust Notes July 6, 2021

A quick recap of recent antitrust-related developments in semiconductors, real estate, college sports, insurance brokerage, digital advertising, ...

July 06, 2021
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Student-Athletes Gain Ground in NCAA Compensation Fight, With Hope for More

The Supreme Court’s unanimous ruling in favor of student-athletes in their antitrust dispute with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) ...

Congressional Antitrust Reform 5-Pack Targets Silicon Valley's Big Four

With today’s five-bill package, members of the U.S. House of Representatives continue their pressure on Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google for what ...

June 11, 2021

New York Antitrust Law Reform Bill Fails to Clear Assembly

Saying big technology companies have reached dangerous levels of monopoly power, a New York State senator was optimistic that his proposed a solution ...

June 11, 2021

Bill Would Guarantee State AGs Home Field Advantage in Antitrust Litigation

A two-page bipartisan bill introduced in the House of Representatives on May 21, 2021, would give state attorneys general more control over where ...

June 04, 2021

Supreme Court: FTC Must Follow the Law in Seeking Restitution, Reverses $1.3B Award

The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously decided that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) may not simultaneously seek injunctive relief for deceptive ...

Politics in Antitrust: This Time It's Different

Both Democrats and Republicans see antitrust law as a critical issue that deserves much attention. They both wish to rein in the giants of ...

April 27, 2021

Bill Designed to Sharpen CFIUS to Better Undercut China's Momentum

Democratic and Republican leaders of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on April 8, 2021 proposed the Strategic Competition Action Act of 2021 ...

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Uptick in Antitrust Litigation Predicted Under Biden Administration

FTC Commissioner Noah Phillips and George Washington Law School Competition Law Director William E. Kovacic, who once chaired the agency, appeared on ...

Will the Antitrust Laws Get an Update?

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), whose presidential campaign was run in part on the need to bolster antitrust enforcement and resources, has weighed in ...

Will Antitrust Law Get a 2021 Makeover?

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) -- a leading voice in the call for antitrust law reform -- is preparing fresh legislation designed to block acquisitions of ...

January 29, 2021
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Biometric Privacy Protection Bill Introduced in New York

A biometric information privacy protection bill introduced in the New York Assembly this month is pending in that body’s Consumer Affairs and ...

January 22, 2021
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Longstanding Federal Antitrust Immunity for Health Insurers is Ending

Healthcare insurance companies, like other insurers, have enjoyed an exemption from U.S. antitrust laws since March 1945 when President Roosevelt ...

January 15, 2021
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GAO: U.S. Needs Internet Personal Data Privacy Protections for Consumers

In its 56-page Feb. 13 report, the GAO listed three issues that should be considered: Which agency or agencies should oversee Internet privacy. What ...

December 01, 2020
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The European Commission Accepts Narrow Commitments to Resolve Broadcom Investigation

On October 7, 2020, the European Commission accepted commitments offered by Broadcom Inc., ending its investigation into the chipmaker. Although a ...

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U.S., 11 States Sue to End Google’s Reign as “Monopoly Gatekeeper for the Internet”

Suit says company improperly uses market power to achieve exclusivity. The U.S. Department of Justice and 11 states have sued Google LLC in federal ...

October 20, 2020
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Apple Allowed to Continue to Ban Epic's Fortnite From Store, But May Not Retaliate Against Epic Affiliates

By Jonathan Rubin The case involves questions "on the frontier edges" of U.S. antitrust law, according to the judge overseeing it. It is a legal ...

October 19, 2020
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Emboldened by New Resources and Expanded Authority, Feds Continue 10-Year Look Back at Chinese Investment  

At a conference earlier this year on the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, or CFIUS, Assistant Treasury Secretary Thomas P. Feddo ...

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California High Court: Interference With 'At Will' Contract Requires 'Separate Wrong' to be Actionable

The sky is not falling. Opinion limited to 'at will' contracts. When a third party craters a contract, you and the other contracting party almost ...

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DOJ Antitrust Chief Refutes Whistleblower’s Testimony Accusing AG Barr of Bias

One of U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr's team has come to his defense against allegations that he has mismanaged the Department of Justice. Assistant ...

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Healthcare Industry Antitrust Measures Advance as Pandemic Pressures Persist

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra says the COVID-19 virus has “shone a light” on the impact consolidation in the healthcare market has had ...

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Class of End-Payors Certified in Illegal Monopolization Suit Against Drug Maker Allergan

On May 5, 2020, U.S. Judge Nina Gershon of New York granted certification to a class of end-payor plaintiffs (EPPs) who purchased the successful ...

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Seventh Circuit Breathes New Life into Refusal-to-Deal Claims

On Feb. 24, 2020, the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals revived refusal-to-deal and tying claims brought against Comcast Corp. by Viamedia Inc. ...

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Ticketmaster, Live Nation Get Booed: Concert-Goers File Class Action for “Unchecked” Abuse of Market Power

Live Nation Threatens Anyone Who Doesn’t Play Along, Plaintiffs Allege Concert-goers tired of paying “supracompetitive fees” on ticket purchases from ...

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Is a Moratorium on Mergers During the Pandemic a Bridge Too Far?

In an interview with Politico’s Leah Nylen and Betsy Woodruff Swan, Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.) explained that he wants the next coronavirus relief ...

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Contractual Distancing: Pandemic Insurance Litigation Spreads with Business Interruption Claim Denials

Insurance coverage works when risk is spread across a large number of policyholders. But for the insurance market to function properly losses must be ...

April 19, 2020
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Private Antitrust Action Follows FTC Complaint Against Altria and Juul Over E-Cigarette Deal

Living by the adage “if you can’t beat them, join them,” tobacco giant Altria Group, Inc. acquired a 35% stake in e-cigarette market leader Juul ...

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Is a Pandemic a Material Adverse Event in M&A?

Reuters has reported that Gray Television Inc. has withdrawn its $8.5 billion offer to buy Tegna Inc. due to the potential impact of the COVID-19 ...

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U.K. Begins Phase II Probe of Cengage/McGraw-Hill Merger

On March 10, 2020, the U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority gave Cengage and McGraw-Hill an ultimatum – provide remedies that cure the ...

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Enforcers, Experts Discuss Tamping Down Anticompetitive Behavior in Bio Market During FDA/FTC Workshop

For believers in free markets it is important that they operate free of “shenanigans,” Food & Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Stephen Hahn ...

March 23, 2020
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Are These the First Steps Toward a New Approach to Merger Control?

Big Tech mergers make big headlines, but there is much more to a deal than how much money changes hands. More important questions need to be ...

March 03, 2020
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Consolidation of Financial Markets Continues as Morgan Stanley Offers to Buy E*TRADE, Pioneer of Low-Cost Online Trading Segment

Morgan Stanley’s proposed $13 billion all-stock acquisition of the popular E*TRADE online discount brokerage made big headlines last week. While no ...

February 26, 2020
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Treasury’s New Regs Address Impact of Foreign Investments, Other Deals on National Security

The U.S. Treasury Department’s final regulations, giving it more power to scrutinize any national security risks that may arise from deals between ...

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FTC Moves to Block Acquisition of Innovative Player That Has Been Good to Wet-Shave Razor Consumers

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) voted unanimously to challenge Edgewell Personal Care Co.’s proposed $1.37 billion acquisition of Harry’s, Inc. ...

February 07, 2020
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Agencies’ Antitrust Suit Against Drug Maker Underscores Challenges of Bringing Biosimilars to Market

The Federal Trade Commission and the New York Attorney General have sued Vyera Pharmaceuticals and two of its executives for antitrust law ...

February 05, 2020
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FTC Announces 2020 ‘Size of Transaction Thresholds’

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced on Jan. 28, 2020, that the “size-of transaction threshold” for reporting proposed mergers and ...

February 04, 2020
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Lawsuit Opposes Creation of Textbook Publishing Duopoly, But Omits a Critical Remedy

Two of the three dominant college textbook publishers – McGraw-Hill Education, Inc. and Cengage Learning Holdings II, Inc. – have agreed to merge. ...

February 04, 2020
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Remedies the Same for General Patent and Standard-Essential Patent Disputes, Agencies State

Imagine purchasing a lamp that only uses light bulbs designed specifically to fit that lamp. No other bulb will do. Or a flashlight that requires ...

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At Long Last: FTC, DOJ Issue New Draft Vertical Merger Guidelines

The Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) have released for public comment their joint draft guidelines which courts may ...

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Company Sues to Hold the FTC and Its Merger Review Process Unconstitutional

“If that procedure sounds unfair, that’s because it is.” That’s how Axon Enterprise, Inc. describes the inner workings of the Federal Trade ...

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FTC Challenges Illumina- PacBio Merger Over Next Gen DNA Sequencing

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is challenging Illumina Inc.'s $1.2 billion acquisition of Pacific Biosciences of California Inc. (PacBio), ...

December 18, 2019
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Comcast Sued for Alleged Regional Sports Network Monopsony

Claiming Comcast Corp. is using its significant buying power and ambitious nationwide acquisition strategy to dominate the lucrative regional sports ...

December 10, 2019
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Spurned by HP Board of Directors, Xerox Gets Hostile, and is Spurned Again

Copy equipment giant HP Inc. turned down the much smaller Xerox Holdings Corp.’s acquisition overtures twice in one week as the exchange of ...

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China's TikTok Facing Privacy & Security Scrutiny from U.S. Regulators, Lawmakers

Reuters broke the story that the Treasury Department’s Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) is conducting a national security ...

November 08, 2019
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Billion-Dollar Merger of DNA Sequencing Firms Opposed by U.K., Questioned in U.S.

DNA sequencing giant Illumina, Inc.’s proposed $1.2 billion acquisition of Pacific Biosciences of California Inc. has drawn opposition in the U.K. ...

November 05, 2019
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Take Our CLE Webinar: The Intersection of Antitrust and Privacy

Moderator & Speaker: Daniel J. Mogin | Managing Partner, MoginRubin LLP Speakers: Jennifer M. Oliver, CIPP/US | Partner, MoginRubin LLP Thomas N. ...

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Beef Buyer Class Action Says ‘Big Beef’ Colluded to Score Record Profits by Manipulating Capacity

Now it’s the direct purchasers of one of the nation’s most delicious and protein-rich commodities -- beef. The purchasers claim in a new class action ...

October 24, 2019
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California Tackles Big Pharma’s Anticompetitive ‘Pay for Delay’ Practices That Slow Down Lower-Cost Generic Drug Development

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed AB 824, known as the “Pay-for-Delay" bill, blocking pharmaceutical companies from paying generic drug makers ...

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CCPA Changes Sent to Governor’s Desk as January Effective Date Draws Closer and Compliance Costs Loom Large

Several amendments to the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 are headed to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk. Issues range from the timing of employer ...

October 10, 2019
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Following California High Court, 9th Circuit Invalidates Mandatory Arbitration of Consumer Claims

Mandatory arbitration clauses in California just became a lot less mandatory. The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals handed consumers in three ...

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Tech Market Getting More Scrutiny, This Time From the U.S. House Antitrust Subcommittee

The line of politicians, regulators, and legislators in the U.S. and abroad expressing serious concerns about the market power held by big technology ...

June 04, 2019
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CFIUS: A Guardian of National Security or a Protectionist Tool?

The committee has been playing a bigger role on the global M&A stage, figuring prominently in the U.S.-China trade war and putting the breaks on ...

May 19, 2019
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DOJ Guides Prosecutors Considering Criminal Charges in Assessing Corporate Compliance Programs

The U.S. Department of Justice Criminal Division has issued guidance to assist prosecutors in assessing corporate compliance programs during criminal ...

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Spotify Tells EU Apple is Hampering Competitors as Apple Music Surpasses Spotify in U.S.

Swedish music streaming company Spotify Technology SA’s antitrust complaint against Apple Inc. in Europe is another example of a dispute arising when ...

April 23, 2019
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Add-On Acquisitions Require Antitrust Due Diligence, Expertise, and Proactivity

With the uptick in global private equity add-on acquisition activity comes the usual M&A-related risks, but getting out in front of any potential ...

April 22, 2019

Sen. Warren Wants to Separate Tech 'Platforms' from 'Participants'

“Today’s big tech companies have too much power — too much power over our economy, our society, and our democracy. They’ve bulldozed competition, ...

March 10, 2019

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