Antitrust Today

New York Senate Amends Groundbreaking Antitrust Bill

By Daniel Vitelli With the New York State legislative session scheduled to adjourn in a few weeks, the State Senate this week returned to work on New York’s groundbreaking antitrust bill. On May 16 (S933B), and again on May 17 (S933C), the Senate amended New York’s proposed “Twenty-First Century Anti-Trust Act” (S933), the trailblazing legislation that would reshape the state’s antitrust law and...

The Antitrust Week In Review

Here are some of the developments in antitrust news this past week that we found interesting and are following.   New Majority Gives F.T.C. a Chance to Push an Aggressive Agenda.  The confirmation of a third Democrat to the Federal Trade Commission broke a partisan deadlock at the agency. That’s good news for Lina Khan, the agency’s chair and a Democrat. It is also a test. With the F.T.C.’s new Democratic...

The Antitrust Week In Review

Here are some of the developments in antitrust news this past week that we found interesting and are following. U.S. Senate committee passes antitrust bill pressuring OPEC.  A U.S. Senate committee passed a bill that could expose the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and partners to lawsuits for collusion on boosting crude oil prices. The No Oil Producing or Exporting Cartels (NOPEC) bill sponsored...

The Sherman Act Protects Competitors, the Ninth Circuit Reminds in Real Estate Case

By Harrison McAvoy A recent decision from the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit points out that the antitrust laws’ protections extend not just to end consumers, but to any person or business in a supply chain, and provides guidance to litigants on standards for pleading a per se group boycott under Section 1 of the Sherman Act. In PLS.com v. National Association of Realtors, the Ninth...

Antitrust Matters Episode 5: The Intersection of Blockchain and Antitrust

Antitrust Matters provides engaging and timely conversations about competition policy in the digital age. Antitrust has always mattered to consumers and businesses, and to antitrust lawyers and economists, but today it also is in the political and public discourse more than ever. From the prices we pay for food, travel, financial services, payments to the way we interact daily using digital apps and platforms,...

The Antitrust Week In Review

Here are some of the developments in antitrust news this past week that we found interesting and are following. Elon Musk's early Twitter stock buy under FTC scrutiny -The Information.  Tesla Inc Chief Executive Elon Musk's initial 9% stake purchase in Twitter Inc is being probed by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), The Information reported. The FTC is looking into whether Musk complied with an antitrust...

Despite Setbacks, Department of Justice Charges Full Speed Ahead in Litigating Labor Antitrust Cases

By James J. Kovacs In the course of 24 hours, juries returned non-guilty verdicts for defendants in two criminal wage fixing and market allocation cases brought by the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”). Despite these setbacks, the DOJ shows no signs of slowing down its antitrust investigations and enforcement efforts in labor markets. In United States v. Jindal et al., the DOJ alleged that the former...

The Danger of Waiting for a Finding of Anticompetitive Behaviour: Gemalto Sees its Claim Against the Smart Card Chips Cartel Time Barred

By Simon Yeung and Georgiana Stables

The secrecy of cartels—and victims’ consequent limited knowledge of them—has led the English courts to relax the requirement that claimants plead detailed statements of case at the outset of litigation. The flipside is that, under the “statement of claim” test, the limitation clock may start to run sooner than claimants think.

In January 2022, the question of whether a...

The Antitrust Week In Review

Here are some of the developments in antitrust news this past week that we found interesting and are following. U.S. antitrust authorities clear Prince, Ferro specialty chemical deal.  Specialty chemical maker Prince International Corp won U.S. antitrust approval to merge with rival Ferro Corp on condition that it sell three facilities, the Federal Trade Commission said. EU antitrust regulators cleared the deal in...

FTC Chair Khan Squares the Circle With an “Interdisciplinary Approach” to Protecting Privacy and Competition

Government efforts to protect competition and privacy could become more closely aligned under an “interdisciplinary approach” to enforcement announced by Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan. It’s no secret that a handful of major tech firms touch nearly every aspect of modern life.  Nor is it a surprise that their business models often rely on collecting and monetizing user information in order to...