On April 27, 2016 Hitachi Chemical Co., Ltd. was charged by the Antitrust Division in a one-count Information alleging that the company (through predecessor companies) engaged in a conspiracy to “fix prices and rig bids of certain electrolytic capacitors in the United States and elsewhere beginning at least as early as August 2002 and continuing…
The most recent edition of the ABA Antitrust Section’s Antitrust Law Journal has yet another thoughtful piece from Dick Steuer. Titled “Antitrust Overhaul” this is not the first time Steuer has covered a big-picture antitrust question in a thought-provoking, readable piece. Here, he suggests that an “overhaul” of the language of the U.S. antitrust laws…
In one sense the decision of the Third Circuit in Eisai v Sanofi-Aventis on 4 May was fairly unremarkable. Like those before it in Concord Boat, Allied Orthopedic, Southeast Missouri Hospital and others, the court rejected Eisai’s allegation that Sanofi’s loyalty discounts were an anticompetitive de facto exclusive dealing arrangement. Commentary immediately following the decision…
Ever since the incoming EU Competition Commissioner said that information was the new currency of the internet, antitrust commentators started to spill ink on the topic of Big Data and whether it was a Big Deal. The topic now seems to occupy a place on the agenda of many antitrust conferences – and as recently…
On April 27, 2016, the FTC entered an administrative complaint against Invibio, Inc., accusing it and its parent company, Victrex, of violating FTC Act Section 5 through exclusive dealing contracts. The companies agreed to a consent order, also issued that day. Because the antitrust aspects of exclusive dealing remain unsettled, practitioners (and their clients) would…
Protecting electronic networks and information systems against cyber-intrusions often requires real-time information sharing among private and governmental entities, but some in the cybersecurity community have expressed concerns in recent years that legal uncertainty has hampered information-sharing efforts. The U.S. Congress recently took steps to address these concerns by passing the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act of…
A long-running Department of Justice practice of avoiding Tunney Act procedures when seeking federal district court approval of civil penalty settlements in enforcement actions alleging Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Act premerger notification violations is apparently coming to an end. This past week, the Justice Department published proposed final judgments and the related competitive impact statements for public…
On April 5, 2016 the Department of Justice held a press conference to announce a “new” program involving enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA)(press release here). The program, generally referred to as the Pilot Program, is outlined in a document released by the Fraud Section of the Criminal Division of DOJ entitled: “The…
On March 29, 2016, the Canadian Commissioner of Competition and Parkland Fuel Corp. entered into a consent agreement to resolve the Commissioner’s challenge to Parkland’s acquisition of Pioneer Energy. This marks the first time in a Canadian Competition Tribunal proceeding that a consent agreement has been negotiated through mediation. The consent agreement includes not only…
Antitrust is hot! Well, as hot as antitrust gets: the mainstream media has covered antitrust issues a few times recently, and policy discussions have broken out in Congress and on the campaign trail. While I disagree with many of the comments, I think it is great that such questions are being discussed by policymakers, reporters,…
