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…
In a press release issued on October 20, 2016, the Antitrust Division and the FTC issued antitrust guidance for human resource (HR) professionals and others who are involved in hiring and compensation decisions. While the guidance on how the antitrust laws apply to hiring is useful, the big news in the press release is:…
By Mark Katz, Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP and Joseph Adler, Hoffer Adler LLP INTRODUCTION The Canadian franchise industry constitutes an important sector of the Canadian economy. The industry employs one in every 35 Canadian, generates approximately CDN$68 billion in revenues, and covers a wide variety of businesses (60% of franchisees are in non-food…
Thanks to my friend Jarod Bona at Bona Law PC, for alerting me to the September 30, 2016 Order of Judge James Donato regarding FTAIA issues in In Re Capacitors Antitrust Litigation, Master File no 14-cv-03264-JD (ND Cal.). It was obvious from the start of the DOJ criminal capacitors investigation that FTAIA issues were going…
On 20 September 2016, the European Commission (“Commission”) issued its first settlement decision under Article 102 TFEU following the introduction of Regulation 1/2003 and reduced the fine of Altstoff Recycling Austria (“ARA“) by 30% in exchange for its cooperation. ARA’s fine was thus reduced to €6 million. In addition to the press release, the Commission…
Like students going back to school, members of the antitrust community returned last week from summer vacations and started debating the finer points of antitrust policy at various conferences. As is often the case, the highlights included speeches by top antitrust enforcers. And there were plenty of speeches – multiple speeches by each of the…
Within the last week, the federal district court in Washington, D.C. has approved a U.S. consent decree resolving Department of Justice Antitrust Division concerns over public relations software provider Cision’s acquisition of PR Newswire, a company that distributes company press releases to the media. Because Cision is owned by private equity firm GTCR Fund X/A…
Occupational licensing has been under antitrust attack in the last several years, from two Supreme Court cases narrowing the state action exemption to numerous reports on local regulations such as taxi medallions. The proposed Alternatives to Licensing that Lower Obstacles to Work Act (ALLOW) Act could prove to be another step in lightening the load…
The Antitrust Division has announced that three more companies have agreed to plead guilty in the electrolytic capacitor investigation. According to a DOJ press release of August 22, (here) Rubycon Corp, Elna Co, and Holy Stone Holdings Co, have agreed to plead guilty to fixing the prices of electrolytic capacitors sold in the United States…
The Department of Justice Antitrust Division earlier this week rejected efforts by performing rights organizations American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) and Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) and the two largest music publishers to relax the terms of antitrust consent decrees that govern the collective licensing of musical works for public performance. The modifications to…
