Antitrust Agency Publishes Revised HSR Notification Thresholds and Filing Fees For 2024

On January 22, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued its usual annual announcement to increase the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Act thresholds. The 2024 thresholds will take effect 30 days after publication in the Federal Register, which is expected soon, so the thresholds likely will be effective in late February.

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Did You Receive an FTC or DOJ Subpoena? Be Sure To Preserve Everything Ephemeral

The Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice are reminding companies that, in responding to grand jury subpoenas and second requests, there is an obligation to preserve data and communications created using “new methods of collaboration and information sharing tools, even including tools that allow for messages to disappear via ephemeral messaging capabilities.” The […]

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Bona Law Client PharmacyChecker.com Defeats Summary Judgment Motion by LegitScript in Antitrust Lawsuit

A federal court has rejected an attempt to toss Bona Law client PharmacyChecker’s antitrust lawsuit about competition and transparency in prescription drug pricing. Judge Michael Simon of the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon issued an order January 3, 2024 denying summary judgment to defendant LegitScript, LLC, a private for-profit pharmacy verification company and competitor […]

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Bid Rigging in the Construction Industry: The California Department of Transportation and Michigan Asphalt Paving Cases

The DOJ describes bid rigging as an agreement among competitors as to who will submit the most competitive bid and who won’t, i.e., who should win and who should lose, in a competitive bidding situation. Typically, bid rigging occurs when a purchaser solicits bids to purchase goods or services, and the bidders agree in advance […]

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California Gets Even Tougher on Non-Competes

Author: Molly Donovan and Luis Blanquez California continues to lead the trend away from non-competes with a new law that packs yet another punch against employers’ use of these very common contractual restrictions on employee mobility. Non-competes—also called restrictive covenants—typically prohibit an employee from taking employment with a rival firm once their current employment has […]

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MMA & Monopsony: MMA Fighters Win Class Certification Bout in Employment Monopolization Case

Author: Luke Hasskamp and Molly Donovan In yet another important labor-monopsony case, a federal court in Nevada has declared a win for MMA athletes fighting against their promoter’s alleged misuse of monopsony power in the market for acquiring fighters’ services. Class certification has been granted to MMA fighters accusing their promoter of locking them into […]

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Lessons from the FTC’s Settlement of the Amgen/Horizon Merger Challenge

In case you missed it on the eve of a holiday weekend, the FTC and several states settled their challenge of Amgen’s acquisition of Horizon last Friday. The case might have seemed like an odd one to antitrust and merger practitioners looking only at the last few decades of merger review; however, both the challenge and the […]

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Lessons from the FTC’s Settlement of the Amgen/Horizon Merger Challenge

Authors: Steven Cernak and Luis Blanquez In case you missed it on the eve of a holiday weekend, the FTC and several states settled their challenge of Amgen’s acquisition of Horizon last Friday. The case might have seemed like an odd one to antitrust and merger practitioners looking only at the last few decades of […]

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Agencies Issue New Draft Merger Guidelines and Create More Classic Antitrust Cases

Author: Steven Cernak and Luis Blanquez On July 19, 2023, the FTC and DOJ Antitrust Division issued the draft of their long-anticipated Merger Guidelines. Like prior iterations, these Guidelines are meant to explain to potential merging parties how the agencies will evaluate their proposed transactions. Earlier versions included input from noted experts across the antitrust […]

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More “Suddenly Classic” Antitrust Cases from the New Merger Guidelines: Philadelphia National Bank and Pabst

Author: Steven Cernak and Luis Blanquez As we explained in a prior post, the new draft merger Guidelines issued recently by the FTC and DOJ cite to several older court opinions that might not be familiar to antitrust practitioners who have been focused for decades exclusively on earlier versions of the Guidelines. Below, we cover […]

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Unpacking Antitrust: What Is a Negative Tying Agreement Under the Federal Antitrust Laws?

The Short Answer: Negative tying is where a seller conditions the sale of one product (the Tying Product) on the buyer agreeing not to purchase a second product (the Tied Product) from a competing seller.  Why Is That Called A “Negative” Tie? A positive tie is where a seller conditions the sale of the Tying Product on an […]

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Antitrust Guidelines for Companies Using Blockchain Technology

Blockchain is an emerging technology that is already changing the way companies do business. Despite its nascent and novel nature, companies using blockchain technology, as well as suppliers and end users, might still get caught in the same old anticompetitive practices subject to the antitrust laws. This paper provides antitrust guidelines to all those involved […]

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