Antitrust Group

Supreme Court Declines Review Of Strict Price Discrimination Standard

The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to review Feesers, Inc. v. Michael Foods, Inc., 591 F.3d 191 (3d Cir. 2010), cert. denied, No. 09-1499, a competitor price-discrimination action brought under the Robinson-Patman Act, after the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit instructed the district court to enter judgment as a matter of law for the defendants. If adopted by other circuits, the legal standard articulated...

Energizer Bunny Navigates Razor’s Edge In Bid For American Safety Razor Company

Despite looming antitrust hurdles, Energizer Holdings Inc. is one step closer to acquiring a bankrupt shaving products competitor after the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware granted Energizer permission to bid on American Safety Razor Company. American Safety filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on July 28, citing increased competition and the loss of customers, namely Wal-Mart Stores Inc.,...

Court Puts Phone Depositions On Do Not Call List In Marine Hose Antitrust Litigation

The United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida has denied a motion by class action plaintiffs in the In re Marine Hose Antitrust Litigation case to take “trial depositions” of foreign-based witnesses by telephone, including corporate executives residing in Japan, France, and Italy. The executives are employees of corporations that are in the process of settling the ongoing class action,...

Aussie Mining Giant Clears U.S. Hurdle In Hostile Bid For Canada’s Potash

Australian mining giant BHP Biliton Ltd. Has won its first regulatory approval – from U.S. antitrust authorities – in its $39 billion dollar hostile bid to take over Canada’s Potash Corp., the world’s largest producer of potash, a key crop nutrient used in fertilizer. BHP has announced that the Federal Trade Commission and the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice have terminated the HSR...

Feds Nix High-Tech Non-Solicitation Agreements

Employees at six high-tech companies can be expecting more cold calls with job offers, thanks to a settlement engineered by the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”). DOJ’s Antitrust Division has reached a settlement agreement with Apple, Google, Intel, Adobe, Intuit, and Disney’s Pixar unit, which will enable those companies to compete more vigorously for each other’s employees.  According to the DOJ, the...

EU Top Court Says No Attorney-Client Privilege For In-House Counsel

The Court of Justice, the highest court in the European Union (‘EU’), has ruled that communications between corporations and their in-house counsel are not protected by the Legal Professional Privilege (‘LPP’), the European version of the attorney-client privilege. The Court’s decision in Case C-550/07 P, Akzo Nobel Chemicals and Akcros Chemicals v. Commission, means that in-house counsel will not be able...

Online Gambling Companies Win Big As EU Throws Out Germany’s Gambling Monopoly

Online and other private gambling companies are looking forward to their winnings as a result of the ruling by the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg (ECJ) that Germany’s state-run gambling monopoly violates European Union law. The EU’s highest court has ruled that Germany’s justification for the state monopoly on gambling rang hollow and struck down the law in a landmark decision that opens the door to...

Skyhook Sues Google Over Location Positioning Technology

The competitive battle between Google and Skyhook Wireless to provide cutting-edge location positioning technology for such devices as mobile phones and laptops has found a new location for conflict – the courtroom. Skyhook, a company that provides mobile software for determining location using nearby Wi-Fi signals, has filed a lawsuit against in Massachusetts Superior Court alleging that Google unfairly...

Dairy Farmers Milk Class Certification In Antitrust Suit

A class of more than 4,500 dairy farmers spread across 11 southeastern states in two geographic markets has been certified by Judge J. Ronnie Greer of the U. S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee in a case alleging a conspiracy to monopolize the production, marketing and processing of milk. The dairy farmers allege multiple claims of antitrust conspiracy against Dean Foods Company (the nation's...