Antitrust Lawyer Blog

Changes in the economy, technology, international business, and data collection have all converged to make the FTC rethink its enforcement priorities going forward. In the spirit of the 1995 Pitofsky Hearings, the FTC on September 13, 2018 kicked off the first day of hearings on Competition and Consumer Protection in the 21st Century at Georgetown…

On Friday, September 14th, a Congressional briefing was held regarding the renegotiation of NAFTA and how certain changes under discussion could end up undermining the President’s Blueprint to lower drug prices in the United States by extending pharma monopolies.  One of the provisions under discussion would increase brand-name drug exclusivity.  Imposing additional brand-name drug exclusivity…

On August 10, 2018, the Eastern District of Pennsylvania denied J&J’s motion to dismiss Pfizer’s antitrust action involving infliximab products. Background on Pfizer/J&J In September 2017, Pfizer filed an antitrust lawsuit under Sections 1 and 2 of Sherman Act alleging J&J engaged in exclusionary anticompetitive practices to keep Pfizer out of the market for infliximab…

New FTC Model Timing Agreement Key Provisions of the Model Timing Agreement Concluding Thoughts Parties still encouraged to reach out to staff early on in a Second Request investigation to negotiate a timing agreement. The FTC expects that most parties will enter into timing agreements that will conform to the new Model Timing Agreement. But…

On August 2, 2018, the DOJ’s Antitrust Division announced that it would begin a review of legacy consent decrees “regulat[ing] how certain movie studios distribute films to movie theatres.”  The Paramount Consent Decrees have been in place for almost 70 years.  U.S. v. Paramount, 334 U.S. 131 (1948).  The Supreme Court decision forced major studios…

On June 27, 2108, the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division announced that The Walt Disney Company (“Disney”) agreed to divest 22 regional sports networks (“RSNs”) to resolve antitrust concerns with its approximately $71 billion acquisition of certain assets from Twenty First Century Fox (“21CF”). Speedy Antitrust Approval DOJ’s announcement of the settlement agreement is noteworthy…

On July 6, 2018, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) announced procedures for requesting product exclusions from the  25% tariff imposed on certain Chinese goods under Section 301. The announcement of exclusion procedures coincided with the imposition of the first phase of tariffs on July 6, 2018 covering 818 tariff subheadings listed in…

On June 20, 2018, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) announced that it will hold a series of public hearings on whether broad-based changes in the economy, evolving business practices, new technologies, or international developments might require adjustments to competition and consumer protection enforcement law, enforcement priorities, and policy.  The multi-day, multi-part hearings will take place…

On March 15, 2018, the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division filed a modified proposed final judgment (“MPFJ”) and responded to amici briefs filed in the Antitrust Procedures and Penalties Act (“Tunney Act”) proceedings regarding the DOJ’s settlement agreement that allowed Anheuser Busch InBev SA/NV’s (“ABI”) to acquire SABMiller.  In other words, the consent decree that…

On June 18, 2018, T-Mobile and Sprint filed initial papers with the FCC.  The parties made a number of arguments on why their deal should pass regulatory muster. First, T-Mobile and Sprint argue that they need the deal to compete with the Big Two (AT&T and Verizon) – the combined firm would be able to…