U.S. Supreme Court

Boycotts, Conspiracy to Restrain Trade, Federal Trade Commission Administrative Law Judges, FTC Enforcement

(Wolters Kluwer)/

The U.S. Supreme Court this term will hear arguments in a case questioning whether respondents in a Federal Trade Commission proceeding can challenge the constitutionality of the FTC’s procedures and structure in federal district court while an administrative action is pending or whether they must wait for appellate court review of a Commission cease-and-desist order….

Antitrust-General

(Wolters Kluwer)/

As tributes pour in for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg following news of her passing on September 18, the jurist is being remembered for her efforts to support women’s rights. This post is intended to provide a look back at Ginsburg’s contributions to antitrust law during her time on the High Court from…

Department of Justice Antitrust Division

(Law Office of Robert Connolly)/

A petition for review is before the Supreme Court filed by three California real estate investors who were convicted after trial under Section 1 of the Sherman Act for bid rigging at real estate foreclosure auctions.  The defendants preserved their objection that the application of the per se rule was unconstitutional because it took an…

Monopolization

(Wolters Kluwer Law & Business)/

The Supreme Court heard oral arguments on November 26 in a suit alleging that the Ninth Circuit erred in holding that iPhone App Store customers were direct purchasers of those apps and had standing to sue Apple for the monopolization and attempted monopolization of the market for the sales of iPhone apps. The liberal justices…

Price Fixing, State Action, State Enforcement, U.S. Department of Justice

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It’s shaping up to be a busy term for antitrust issues at the U.S. Supreme Court. The Court on January 12 decided to review a third antitrust case. In the context of a price fixing action against foreign vitamin C manufacturers, the Court will consider “whether a court may exercise independent review of an appearing…

Patent Antitrust, Price Fixing, State Enforcement

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Earlier this month, the U.S. Supreme Court denied review of a handful of petitions in antitrust cases. Since that time, new petitions for certiorari have been filed in competition law cases with the hope that the High Court will add them to its docket. At this point, only one antitrust case is set to be…

Antitrust Injury, Boycotts, Exclusive Dealing, FTC Enforcement

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The U.S. Supreme Court’s denial of the petition for certiorari in the McWane case on Monday dashed the hopes of many antitrust practitioners that the Court might provide some much-needed clarity on the antitrust implications of using exclusive dealing arrangements. The denial also makes it highly unlikely that the High Court will be issuing any…

Tying Arrangements

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Consumers and small businesses that are parties to contracts containing arbitration agreements will find it tougher, if not impossible, to avoid the terms of those agreements and pursue an antitrust action in court against the other contracting party, in light of a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling. Noting that “the antitrust laws do not guarantee an…

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…

FTC Enforcement, Mergers and Acquisitions

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This morning the Court granted certiorari in Federal Trade Commission v. Phoebe Putney Health, No. 11-1160, on appeal from an execrable pair of opinions in the Eleventh Circuit and the Middle District of Georgia. At issue is a local hospital merger that would give the acquiror 100% in its county and upwards of 90% in…