Antitrust Enforcement

The Antitrust Week In Review

Here are some of the developments in antitrust news this past week that we found interesting and are following. FTC urges judge to unwind $7.1 bln Illumina-Grail merger.  The U.S. Federal Trade Commission on Tuesday said it seeks to unwind life science company Illumina Inc's $7.1 billion acquisition of Grail Inc, alleging it would harm innovation and boost prices. FTC senior counsel Susan Musser said in her...

FTC Trial Seeks to Promote Competition in Cancer-Screening Tests by Unwinding Illumina-GRAIL Merger

The FTC kicked off its trial challenging Illumina Inc.’s completed acquisition of GRAIL Inc. on Tuesday by urging an FTC administrative law judge to undo the $7.1 billion deal, arguing it would harm innovation and boost prices of cancer-screening tests. The FTC’s bid to unwind the merger of DNA sequencing leader Illumina and GRAIL, a biotech company focused on early cancer screenings could impact the health of...

The FTC’s Revival of its Facebook Complaint Shows That it’s Serious

The FTC’s revival of its monopoly maintenance claims against Facebook demonstrates what a serious antitrust enforcer can do after an unexpected setback. As expected, the FTC has filed an Amended Complaint that adds substantial factual allegations to respond to U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg’s order dismissing the FTC’s initial Complaint for supposedly failing to allege sufficient facts to support...

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. Revives Facebook Suit, Adding Details to Back Claim of a Monopoly.  The Federal Trade Commission took new aim at Facebook on Thursday, beefing up its accusations that the company was a monopoly that illegally crushed competition, in an attempt to overcome the skepticism of a federal judge who threw...

Ten Facts About Jonathan Kanter, Biden’s Pick to Head Antitrust

President Biden’s nomination of Jonathan Kanter to be the Assistant Attorney General in charge of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division is a sure sign that the Administration is serious about reinvigorating antitrust enforcement. While the Senate Judiciary Committee has not yet taken any action on the nomination, which the White House announced last month, it’s not too soon to consider 10 key facts...

The Antitrust Week In Review

Here are some of the developments in antitrust news this past week that we found interesting and are following. Biden's antitrust crackdown adds to anxiety of merger investors.  U.S. President Joe Biden's tougher regulatory stance on big corporate mergers has fueled a rise in investor bets on some deals not being completed, threatening to push the brakes on a record-setting dealmaking boom. Spreads between deal...

App Store Competition Bill Contains A Loophole

Although Congress has already had a busy 2021 pushing antitrust legislation that targets large digital technology platforms, even more legislative battles are looming on the horizon. Earlier this year, bipartisan members of the House introduced six antitrust bills designed to curb the perceived power of tech platforms, some of which were also introduced in the Senate.[1] Those bills have made it through the...

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 enforcer says merger wave means slower vetting.  A huge increase in the number of mergers coming before the U.S. Federal Trade Commission for antitrust reviews is limiting its ability to investigate deals in a timely fashion, the FTC said on Tuesday. The agency, which works with the Justice...

Seventh Circuit to Determine Whether the Sherman Act Can Mow Down Drug “Patent Thickets”

Patent infringement litigation is not for the faint of heart or light of wallet.  Determining the validity of a patent (and if it is found to be valid, whether it has been infringed) is a document-intensive, expert-driven exercise that can often cost millions of dollars to litigate to conclusion.  This expense is justified, since the rewards reaped by the victor are vast—the continuation of a legal monopoly...

New York’s Proposed Premerger Review Program Would Provide Much-Needed Protection for Consumers

New York State is on the precipice of unleashing a much-needed revolution in antitrust law. This blog recently covered New York’s proposal to amend the Donnelly Act (New York’s antitrust statute) to adopt a European-style abuse of dominance standard.  In this post, we analyze New York’s proposed mandatory premerger review program, which would complement the federal premerger notification program established...