Antitrust Today

Court Rules Work Product Doctrine Can Pre-Exist Attorney Client Relationship

By Alysia Solow and Alan Schwartz Plaintiffs’ counsel and their clients can rely on the attorney work product doctrine to shield investigations conducted in anticipation of filing a lawsuit—even if the attorney conducted the investigation before being retained by any client. That is the essence of the holding of Magistrate Judge Gabriel Fuentes in his recent decision In Re Turkey Antitrust Litigation, No....

Tracking Tech Giants: An Overview of Antitrust Engagements in the Digital Domain

The reasons why large digital technology firms sometimes cause concerns about unfair competition, and a summary of EU and UK investigations and litigation in response to those concerns

By Stephen Critchley, Agnieszka Szewczyk and Helena Lindgren The European Commission has long talked of the need to regulate the behaviour of large digital technology companies, and to harmonise these regulations between Member...

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 regulators seek more data from Activision, Microsoft on planned deal.  The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has sought additional data from Activision Blizzard Inc and Microsoft Corp related to the antitrust review of their deal, the games developer said in a regulatory filing. Microsoft in...

Rare “Single-Brand Market” Case Against Apple Clears Initial Hurdle in Court

  By David A. Scupp   Antitrust claims alleging that a single brand constitutes a market may be rare, but they can still pack a punch as Apple Inc. found out this week.   On Monday, Judge Jeffrey White of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California granted in part and denied in part Apple’s motion to dismiss AliveCor’s antitrust claims in AliveCor, Inc. v. Apple Inc.  Judge...

Despite Setbacks in Court, California’s Ban on Pharmaceutical Pay-For-Deals Could Still Recover

For two decades, antitrust enforcers have been fighting so-called “reverse-payment” or “pay-for-delay” agreements under which pharmaceutical patent-holders pay the allegedly infringing, lower-cost generic competition to stay off the market.  California has taken a unique legislative approach, passing Assembly Bill 824 (“AB 824”) to address skyrocketing prescription drug costs by subjecting pay-for-delay...

The Antitrust Week In Review

Here are some of the developments in antitrust news this past week that we found interesting and are following.   Microsoft faces EU antitrust complaint about its cloud computing business.  U.S. tech giant Microsoft is facing an antitrust complaint filed by three European rivals in the booming cloud computing business, one the plaintiffs said. The complaint, filed with the European Union's competition watchdog...

Antitrust, But Verify: Financial Considerations for the Private Antitrust Plaintiff

By Gary Reilly  

“I was never ruined but twice: once when I lost a lawsuit, and once when I won.”

—Voltaire

Litigation is a costly endeavor in terms of both time and money. An injured party must seriously consider many factors in deciding whether to bring a lawsuit. Can I prove injury? Can I prove liability? Does the law provide an adequate remedy? And if the answer to all of the above is yes, can I get...

Antitrust Matters Episode 3: A Legacy of Antitrust, Part 2

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,...

Antitrust Enforcers Enter the Metaverse

By Grant Petrosyan As the metaverse explodes into public consciousness, antitrust enforcers are donning the necessary headsets. The metaverse is a 3D virtual world where people can engage in a wide range of activities remotely, including meeting and interacting with others, playing games, shopping, holding meetings and conferences, and numerous other social, educational, and professional activities. More and...

Antitrust Enforcement Needs an Upgrade to Combat Digital Tacit Collusion by Blockchain Smart Contracts

By Jeff Shinder and Kristian Soltes Antitrust enforcers need to upgrade their enforcement efforts to deal with the challenges of using a 19th Century statute to combat 21st Century digital tacit collusion. Although the Sherman Act was enacted in 1890, its general proscriptions against restraints of trade are expected to apply to all manner of anticompetitive conduct in our fast-moving digital economy. That puts...