IP Antitrust, Patent Antitrust, U.S. Department of Justice

(Richard Wolfram, Esq.)/ /Leave a comment

(Note:  In December 2012, the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission held a Hearing on the impact of patent assertion entities (PAEs) on innovation and competition and the implications for antitrust enforcement policy.  The Agencies then issued a Request for Public Comments on the topic of the Hearing.  In response, on April 5th,…

Congress, FTC Enforcement, U.S. Department of Justice

(Wolters Kluwer)/ /Leave a comment

FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez and William J. Baer, Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Department of Justice Antitrust Division, testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee’s antitrust subcommittee on Tuesday. The hearing, entitled “Oversight of the Enforcement of the Antitrust Laws,” was the subcommittee’s first antitrust oversight hearing since Ramirez and Baer took the helms…

FTC Enforcement

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FTC Commissioner Joshua D. Wright told attendees of the American Bar Association Section of Antitrust Law Spring Meeting on April 11 that he was hopeful that the Commission will issue a policy statement, articulating what constitutes an unfair method of competition in violation of Section 5 of the FTC Act. Saying it is the “Commission’s…

Standard Setting, Uncategorized

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Introduction The smart phone wars have led to heated discussions over standard setting in technology markets. It seems only a question of time before the standard setting debate spills over into other areas. My personal candidate is the standard setting that underpins product quality, origin and safety certification. Certification – where invisible features matter An…

FTC Enforcement, IP Antitrust, Patent Antitrust

(Law Offices of David A. Balto)/ /Leave a comment

Commissioner Edith Ramirez became the new Chairwoman of the Federal Trade Commission on March 4. The White House announced the selection on February 28th. Chairwoman Ramirez is an excellent choice for antitrust enforcement generally, but is truly an ideal Chair for the FTC as it prepares to face the next generation of anti-competitive practices stemming…

Antitrust Exemptions & Immunity, FTC Enforcement, Mergers and Acquisitions

(Cleveland-Marshall College of Law)/ /3 Comments

I often feel a certain deflation after the Supreme Court decides an antitrust case.  After watching a case for months, prognosticating about it with other antitrusters, reading umpteen blog posts, reading the briefs if you’re into it and even some amici briefs if you’re really into it, the Court then rules one way or the…

Mergers and Acquisitions

(Law Offices of David A. Balto)/ /Leave a comment

In Consolidation in Health Care Markets: A Review of the Literature, authors David Balto and James Kovacs in a study funded by and submitted to the Robert Woods Johnson Foundation discuss the recent literature concerning consolidation across various health care markets. The paper focuses on consolidation of hospital, provider, and health insurance markets with the goal of understanding the…

Price Fixing

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The Ninth Circuit on Thursday ruled that a plaintiff need not make a purchase in California to recover overcharges for price-fixed goods under the California Cartwright Act. AT&T Corporation and other telecommunications companies that sold mobile wireless handsets containing liquid crystal display (LCD) panels could assert price fixing claims under the California Cartwright Act against…

Mergers and Acquisitions, U.S. Department of Justice

(Baker & McKenzie)/ /Leave a comment

My partner Lee Van Voorhis in Washington drafted some thoughts on this transaction, which I thought would be of interest to the Kluwer readership. DOJ Sues to Block Further Anheuser-Busch InBev/Grupo Modelo Linkage On January 31, 2013, the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) announced that it filed a complaint in federal district…

FTC Enforcement

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The Federal Trade Commission announced on Friday that Chairman Jon Leibowitz is planning to leave the Commission effective February 15. Leibowitz has chaired the agency since March 2009 and has been a commissioner since September 2004. Leibowitz did not offer any details of his plans following his departure from the agency. When Leibowitz began serving…