Antitrust Litigation

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...

FTC Revives Monopoly Maintenance Claims Against Facebook

The FTC filed an amended complaint against Facebook yesterday, reviving its ongoing federal antitrust case against the leading online social network. U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg surprised many observers when he dismissed the FTC’s original complaint in June 2021 for failing to allege sufficient facts to support the agency’s allegation that Facebook had monopoly power in a relevant market.  The...

New York’s Proposed Antitrust Overhaul Would Allow Recovery of Expert Fees

New York may soon be at the vanguard of antitrust enforcement and litigation in the United States in more ways than one. On June 7, 2021, the New York Senate passed Senate Bill S933A (43 aye, 20 nay), which would overhaul the Donnelly Act, New York’s antitrust law.  Constantine Cannon lawyers have already discussed what the bill’s “abuse of dominance” provisions would mean for companies that have market...

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...

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...

Far From Being Off the Hook, Facebook is Waiting For the FTC’s Next Move

The face-off between Facebook and federal and state antitrust enforcers is not over. As you may recall, in late June 2021, the Judge James E. Boasberg of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia dismissed the Federal Trade Commission’s (“FTC”) and the state attorney generals’ (“State AGs”) complaints against Facebook in two opinions issued the same day.[1]  While it dismissed 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.

New York, other states to fight dismissal of antitrust lawsuit against Facebook.  New York and other U.S. states filed a notice on Wednesday saying they will fight the dismissal of an antitrust lawsuit that they launched against Facebook Inc in an appeals court. In June, a U.S. judge dismissed federal and...