Antitrust Insights and Analysis

Will the Next Chapter in DOJ’s Showdown With Book Publishers Rewrite the Book on Antitrust Merger Enforcement?

Federal antitrust enforcers hope to write a new chapter on merger enforcement this year as they face off against leading publishers. One of the major antitrust developments last year was the United States Department of Justice’s (DOJ) challenge of the merger of Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster, alleging that the large publishers’ combined monopsony power would harm competition in the publishing...

UPDATE: New York’s Groundbreaking Antitrust Bill Is Reported Out of Committee and Advances to the Senate Floor Calendar

New York took a step closer to launching an antitrust revival in the state today as the New York Senate Consumer Protection Committee voted to send S933A—a groundbreaking antitrust bill that would fundamentally reshape antitrust law and enforcement in the Empire State—to the full Senate floor calendar. As this blog previously reported, although New York’s Twenty-First Century Antitrust Act passed the Senate...

New York’s Groundbreaking Antitrust Bill Is Back on the Agenda for the New Legislative Session

New Yorkers backing a broad revision of the Donnelly Act have hopes that the new legislative session will usher in an antitrust revival in the state. With the opening of New York’s 2022 legislative session on January 5, an early order of business will be consideration of bills that did not become law during the 2021 session.  One major piece of unfinished business will be tackled with committee consideration of...

Will Supply Chain Delays and Skyrocketing Prices Lead to the End of Ocean Carriers’ Antitrust Exemption?

One of the oldest antitrust exemptions may yet fall victim to the pandemic as the global supply chain crisis causes federal policymakers to reevaluate the statutory immunity currently enjoyed by ocean carriers. Despite a year of turmoil in the ocean carriage supply chain, American consumers appear to have weathered the holiday shopping season with most of their gift giving intact.  Many consumers did their part by...

Startups Take Note: Feds Propose Limits on Standard-Essential Patent Market Power by Disfavoring Injunctions and Enforcing Non-Discriminatory Commitments

The federal government is taking some welcome steps toward restoring the balance between antitrust policy and intellectual property rights with its proposed statement on the remedies available to standard-essential patent (“SEP”) owners against companies that depend on fair licensing terms for essential technologies. On December 6, 2021, the Antitrust Division, along with the Patent and Trademark Office and the...

The Antitrust Year in Preview: Six Antitrust Developments to Watch in 2022

As we enter the third year of the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s become clear that one thing the pandemic hasn’t slowed is the revival of antitrust activity.  Here are six major antitrust developments expected this year, with potentially big implications for tech antitrust, merger enforcement, and criminal antitrust enforcement against no-poach agreements.

1. Antitrust Bills in the U.S. Congress

We expect Congress...

The Antitrust Week In Review

Here are some of the developments in antitrust news this past week that we found interesting and are following. As Prices Rise, Biden Turns to Antitrust Enforcers.  As rising inflation threatens his presidency, President Biden is turning to the federal government’s antitrust authorities to try to tame red-hot price increases that his administration believes are partly driven by a lack of corporate competition....

The Antitrust Week In Review

Here are some of the developments in antitrust news this past week that we found interesting and are following. Penguin Random House Defends Effort to Buy Simon & Schuster.  Penguin Random House, the largest book publisher in the United States, said in a court filing that its plan to buy a competitor, Simon & Schuster, would be a boon for the industry, benefiting authors, booksellers and readers. However, the U.S....

What Potential Whistleblowers Need to Know About the Proposed FTC Whistleblower Act of 2021

  Employees who are considering reporting wrongdoing by their employers to the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) may get some added incentives and protection if a proposed whistleblower bill becomes law. The proposed FTC Whistleblower Act of 2021 (the “Bill”) was introduced in the House of Representatives on November 30, 2021, by Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) and Congresswoman Lori Trahan (D-MA)....

The Antitrust Week In Review

Here are some of the developments in antitrust news this past week that we found interesting and are following. Apple can delay changes to App Store rules, appeals court says.  A federal appeals court delivered a last-minute reprieve to Apple, agreeing to the company’s request to delay a legal order requiring it to make policy changes to its App Store that could help app developers circumvent what they say are...