The MoginRubin blog offers informative analysis and insightful commentary on timely issues related to competition and antitrust actions, mergers, acquisitions and associated regulatory and legislative activity.
Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash U.S. Judge Karen Spencer Martson of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania approved on March 15, 2023, a ...
Beverage aisle at Pennsylvania Costco March 2023. Photo by Jane Hagy. The Federal Trade Commission has reportedly launched an investigation to ...
Photo by Nathan Rogers on Unsplash On March 7, 2023, the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals revived an antitrust lawsuit brought by Relevant Sports ...
Image: March 7, 2023, screen capture of Ticketmaster notices re Taylor Swift tickets. Live music fans have been dealt another setback in their war on ...
Photo by Maxim Hopman on Unsplash The FTC has decided to abandon its challenge to Meta Platforms Inc.’s acquisition of virtual reality (VR) exercise ...
Photo by Marquise Kamanke on Unsplash What's Happening On January 23, 2023, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) announced the Hart-Scott-Rodino ...
Photo by Owen Lystrup on Unsplash Christmas 2022 was bedlam for thousands of travelers as Southwest Airlines cancelled 16,700 flights amid severe ...
Photo by CardMapr.nl on Unsplash Mastercard has entered into a consent order with the Federal Trade Commission following the Commission’s ...
If anyone knows the workings of Washington’s antitrust machinery, it’s Microsoft’s president, Brad Smith, who served as the company’s general counsel ...
RealPage, Inc., a real estate software and data analytics company, is facing class action litigation and a federal investigation over whether it is ...
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 ...
Alphabet, Inc., Google’s parent company, has won an early victory in the Google Maps antitrust litigation filed in the Northern District of ...
What was promised in 2010 to deliver a robust pro-consumer ticketing and live events industry has created exactly the opposite 12 years later. That ...
Finding the deal would substantially lessen competition in the U.S. market for publishing rights for potential top-selling books, U.S. District Judge ...
Federal lawmakers troubled by The Kroger Co.’s impending acquisition of one of its chief competitors, The Albertson Cos., for $25 billion, will hold ...
Three poultry processors and a consulting firm that circulated wage information among them have entered a consent decree with the Department of ...
AbbVie Inc., which owns the patent on the global blockbuster drug, Humira, has again defeated a pair of claims by welfare-health plans that the ...
The Justice Department’s Antitrust Division is investigating the PGA Tour for potentially anticompetitive conduct, the Wall Street Journal was first ...
A group of AT&T and Verizon wireless subscribers have filed a proposed class action arguing that the T-Mobile / Sprint merger – despite all of ...
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit recently slammed the courthouse door on the plaintiff in Continental Automotive Systems v. Avanci, ...
In early February, Frontier Airlines and Spirit Airlines announced a $6.6 billion merger that gives Frontier a 51.5% controlling interest in a ...
Timothy Z. LaComb, Jonathan Rubin
May 05, 2022Antitrust law enforcers at the Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission remain dedicated to increasing competition in several rapidly ...
Broadcom and the Federal Trade Commission just settled an antitrust probe in November 2021. Yet, roughly five months later, Broadcom is again in the ...
There was reason for optimism in August 2021, when the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals granted rehearing en banc of a 2-1 decision that would have ...
It’s a case that challenges the limits of the “freedom of design” usually enjoyed by companies accused of product design changes alleged to harm ...
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 ...
“Second time lucky?” That is how U.S. Judge James E. Boasberg began his opinion allowing the Federal Trade Commission’s antitrust suit against Meta ...
Various leaders in the federal government have made it clear that they are now applying greater scrutiny to mergers and acquisitions and are not ...
HBLC · Ninth Circuit Opinion In Telescope Case By J Rubin And T LaComb 12 - 13 - 2021 The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals this month upheld judgment ...
Jonathan Rubin, Timothy Z. LaComb
December 13, 2021The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has ordered the company formerly known as Facebook to unwind its acquisition of Giphy, Inc. due to ...
The Federal Trade Commission has approved a final order settling charges that chip giant Broadcom Inc. illegally monopolized markets for ...
Saying the deal would create a “publishing behemoth,” the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice filed an antitrust lawsuit on Nov. 2 ...
Download the PDF Marking the first cannabis industry antitrust case to reach trial, a California jury on Sept. 23, 2021, returned a $5 million ...
In a recently published paper, a pair of academics propose that the application of artificial intelligence can offer a potent weapon against ...
Two class action certifications in two months have put credit card giants Visa and Mastercard on the defensive over the alleged anticompetitive ...
Since February 2020, staff members at the Federal Trade Commission have been studying past acquisitions by Google, Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and ...
Jonathan Rubin, Jennifer M. Oliver
September 21, 2021Apple, Inc. has been enjoying a tremendous advantage in the highly lucrative gaming-app market. This is thanks to the immense popularity of Apple ...
Delivering some good news for advocates of competitive markets, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has vacated a 2-1 decision that would have ...
A quick recap of recent antitrust-related developments in semiconductors, real estate, college sports, insurance brokerage, digital advertising, ...
As predicted by some, the Federal Trade Commission issued a complaint charging Broadcom Inc. with illegally monopolizing several markets for ...
Dan Mogin, Timothy Z. LaComb, and Steven Benz*
July 06, 2021The Supreme Court’s unanimous ruling in favor of student-athletes in their antitrust dispute with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) ...
JUNE 21, 2021 -- The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) doesn’t get a free pass when it comes to antitrust law, the Supreme Court held ...
It is a common refrain by people familiar with Amazon’s merchant relationships: Amazon is great if you are a consumer, but if you’re a merchant on ...
As we witness increased market concentration and dominant players in many important industries, antitrust law and its enforcement are under attack as ...
A three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals – on its own initiative – has invited attorneys in an antitrust class action to argue ...
Citing “more than enough evidence," the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has upheld the Federal Trade Commission’s determination that ...
When it comes to companies offering workplace collaboration software platforms such as Microsoft Teams and Slack there is little in the way of ...
Dan Mogin, Jonathan Rubin, and Jennifer Oliver
April 01, 2021FTC Commissioner Noah Phillips and George Washington Law School Competition Law Director William E. Kovacic, who once chaired the agency, appeared on ...
The European Commission has opened a formal antitrust investigation to assess whether the pharmaceutical company Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. ...
Calling the case a “poster child for divestiture,” the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the divestiture of a company in the door ...
Dan Mogin, Jonathan Rubin, and Jennifer Oliver
February 20, 2021Facebook believes Apple abused its power in the smartphone market by forcing app developers to follow App Store rules that Apple itself doesn’t ...
Healthcare insurance companies, like other insurers, have enjoyed an exemption from U.S. antitrust laws since March 1945 when President Roosevelt ...
That’s practically what has happened in the U.K. where the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has increased oversight of ad-driven digital ...
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 ...
On October 7, 2020, the European Commission accepted commitments offered by Broadcom Inc., ending its investigation into the chipmaker. Although a ...
Dan Mogin, Timothy LaComb, Steven Benzand Jayme Weber
November 11, 2020Suit says company improperly uses market power to achieve exclusivity. The U.S. Department of Justice and 11 states have sued Google LLC in federal ...
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 ...
At a conference earlier this year on the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, or CFIUS, Assistant Treasury Secretary Thomas P. Feddo ...
Dan Mogin, Jonathan Rubin, Jennifer M. Oliver, and Timothy Z. LaComb
October 15, 2020Why and how your organization's purchasing, legal, and finance professionals can form a formidable defense against profit-killing price-fixing, ...
'Apple wanted us out of the App Store.' In January 2018 Apple investors complained publicly about the lack of parental controls on their popular ...
At the end of the beloved 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy famously says to her Auntie Em, "There's no place like home!" It's one of the best ...
Altria must show it was failing in the e-cig business for deal to survive. Altria Group, Inc. and JUUL Labs, Inc. fired back at the FTC’s April ...
While rare, this use of CFIUS powers may be a harbinger. Making good on his threats and citing national security risks, President Donald J. Trump ...
When should 'marketplace platforms' be treated as markets controlled by operators? It poses a new brand of antitrust problem: private parties ...
The Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice is taking a close look at the announced $7.1 billion acquisition of market disruptor Credit ...
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 ...
The CEOs of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google are scheduled to appear before the U.S. House of Representatives’ Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee on ...
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 ...
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra says the COVID-19 virus has “shone a light” on the impact consolidation in the healthcare market has had ...
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 ...
The National Collegiate Athletic Association’s rules limiting education-related benefits for student-athletes are impermissible restraints on trade ...
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. ...
Jonathan Rubin, Timothy Z. LaComb
June 16, 2020Driven by competitive pressure and pandemic-related losses, Uber Technologies Inc. has expressed its intention to acquire competitor Grubhub Inc. to ...
Antitrust law doesn't take a back seat to bankruptcy. While bankruptcy is no one's idea of a dream, the beauty of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code is that it ...
Live Nation Threatens Anyone Who Doesn’t Play Along, Plaintiffs Allege Concert-goers tired of paying “supracompetitive fees” on ticket purchases from ...
Insurance coverage works when risk is spread across a large number of policyholders. But for the insurance market to function properly losses must ...
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 ...
On March 10, 2020, the U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority gave Cengage and McGraw-Hill an ultimatum – provide remedies that cure the ...
On March 10th, the U.K. Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) gave Cengage Learning and McGraw-Hill an ultimatum: address competition concerns or ...
Timothy Z. LaComb, Jennifer M. Oliver
March 24, 2020For believers in free markets it is important that they operate free of “shenanigans,” Food & Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Stephen ...
Live Nation Entertainment, Inc., owner of some of the world’s biggest music venues, events and festivals, is currently operating under what the ...
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 ...
Anticompetitive conduct and misleading advertising practices in the burgeoning biosimilars market – where nearly identical versions of bioilogics are ...
Morgan Stanley’s proposed $13 billion all-stock acquisition of the popular E*TRADE online discount brokerage made big headlines last week. While no ...
The U.S. Treasury Department’s final regulations, giving it more power to scrutinize any national security risks that may arise from deals between ...
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) voted unanimously to challenge Edgewell Personal Care Co.’s proposed $1.37 billion acquisition of Harry’s, Inc. ...
The Federal Trade Commission and the New York Attorney General have sued Vyera Pharmaceuticals and two of its executives for antitrust law ...
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced on Jan. 28, 2020, that the “size-of transaction threshold” for reporting proposed mergers and ...
The Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) have released for public comment their joint draft guidelines which courts may ...
“If that procedure sounds unfair, that’s because it is.” That’s how Axon Enterprise, Inc. describes the inner workings of the Federal Trade ...
Jonathan Rubin, Jennifer M. Oliver
January 13, 2020Charles Schwab Corp. has announced it will acquire TD Ameritrade Holding Corp. for $26 billion in stock. But the merger should receive significant ...
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is challenging Illumina Inc.'s $1.2 billion acquisition of Pacific Biosciences of California Inc. (PacBio), ...
Claiming Comcast Corp. is using its significant buying power and ambitious nationwide acquisition strategy to dominate the lucrative regional sports ...
You have to give Google credit. It’s no quitter. Despite pressure in the United States and Europe that might tell other companies to take a breath, ...
Copy equipment giant HP Inc. turned down the much smaller Xerox Holdings Corp.’s acquisition overtures twice in one week as the exchange of ...
Reuters broke the story that the Treasury Department’s Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) is conducting a national security ...
DNA sequencing giant Illumina, Inc.’s proposed $1.2 billion acquisition of Pacific Biosciences of California Inc. has drawn opposition in the U.K. ...
Moderator & Speaker: Daniel J. Mogin | Managing Partner, MoginRubin LLP Speakers: Jennifer M. Oliver, CIPP/US | Partner, MoginRubin LLP Thomas N. ...
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 ...
California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed several amendments to the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018. Issues range from the timing of ...
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed AB 824, known as the “Pay-for-Delay" bill, blocking pharmaceutical companies from paying generic drug makers ...
Jennifer M. Oliver, Timothy Z. LaComb
October 17, 2019Several amendments to the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 are headed to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk. Issues range from the timing of employer ...
September 30, 2019, was a big day for college athletics. Alongside Lakers’ star LeBron James (who ironically skipped college), California Governor ...
Timothy Z. LaComb, Jennifer M. Oliver
October 05, 2019U.S. Judge Janis L. Sammartino in California’s Southern District certified a price fixing class action against “Big Tuna” this summer following a ...
Google says cookies are good. They are critical to generating advertising revenue and they help the company improve its product from functionality ...
When a company with a new idea shakes up an industry and delights consumers, it is tempting for established players to devour them. But is that in ...
The U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division has inserted itself into a case that questions whether the Anti-Malware Testing Standards ...
Jonathan Rubin, Timothy Z. LaComb
August 07, 2019The Department of Justice Antitrust Division and the Federal Trade Commission are making good on their promises to scrutinize the world’s leading ...
The world’s leading talent agencies claim the two Writers Guild of America (WGA) unions violated antitrust laws by executing what they call an ...
Ubiquitous modem chips allow our smart devices to communicate with each other over cellular networks using industry standards like 4G LTE. A small ...
Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim announced on July 11, 2019, the Antitrust Division’s new policy for incentivizing antitrust compliance, ...
For a group of organizations whose very existence is based on fair world-class competition, the competitive spirit of professional sports leagues has ...
Jennifer M. Oliver, Timothy Z. LaComb
July 16, 2019Commercial U.S. buyers of Farmed Atlantic Salmon have sued many of the leaders of what they maintain is a global cartel that has colluded to fix and ...
According to a recent Wall Street Journal report millions of business listings on Google Maps are fake, thanks to businesses seeking to drive call ...
The meat packing industry is coming under increasing pressure in the form of separate antitrust lawsuits filed this year by consumers and cattle ...
The line of politicians, regulators, and legislators in the U.S. and abroad expressing serious concerns about the market power held by big technology ...
The Wall Street Journal reported on May 31 that the U.S. Justice Department is “gearing up” for an antitrust investigation of Google, “a move that ...
Qualcomm Inc. has asked U.S. Judge Lucy H. Koh of the Northern District of California to stay, pending appeal to the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of ...
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 ...
The U.S. Department of Justice Criminal Division has issued guidance to assist prosecutors in assessing corporate compliance programs during criminal ...
The Supreme Court held today that iPhone users are “direct purchasers” of apps from Apple’s wildly popular multi-billion-dollar App Store and have ...
The German competition regulatory authority has decided to bar Facebook from combining user data with data it scrapes from non-Facebook sources -- a ...
Swedish music streaming company Spotify Technology SA’s antitrust complaint against Apple Inc. in Europe is another example of a dispute arising when ...
This is an excerpt of a thorough discussion of the issue captured in a 14-page article. Download the PDF. No one wants their most valuable assets ...
The global cannabis market is on track to triple in size in the next three years, expecting to hit $32 billion, with two-thirds of that coming from ...
Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood told CNBC on Monday, March 18, that he is developing his antitrust case against Google similar to the one ...
The European Commission has fined Google $1.69 billion for breaching EU antitrust rules. “Google has abused its market dominance by imposing a number ...
Democrats and Republicans in both chambers of Congress have come out against drug industry practices such as paying generic drug companies to delay ...
In a move that could redefine how 2.6 billion people use Facebook Messenger and Facebook’s acquired WhatsApp and Instagram apps, The New York Times ...
The Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Competition has set its sights on the U.S. technology sector. On Feb. 28 it launched a task force that will ...
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