Antitrust & Competition
Antitrust & Competition
TOP STORY: Justice Department charges more contractors with bid-rigging
The news is the latest in a barrage of bid-rigging cases tied to U.S. military contracts. A federal grand jury in Atlanta, Georgia returned an indictment charging military contractors with an alleged fraudulent scheme involving the rigging of bids on...
The inference of competitive injury, which the defendants relied upon as the basis of their Lanham Act counterclaims, did not apply to their Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) counterclaims, because the latter required a sho...
The physician’s allegation that the tying caused harm through limited choices in the medical devices he could utilize failed to sufficiently plead standing because the injury—the result of the vertical distribution of a product—was too remote. A phys...
A lower court improperly applied the law governing forum-selection clauses in a distribution agreement dispute, said the West Virginia state high court. The West Virginia state high courtgranted a petition for a Writ of Prohibition in a forum-selecti...
The Commission seeks to eliminate deceptive practices and provide consumers with protection from junk fees and deceptive advertising. The FTC is seeking comment on a proposed rule that would prohibit motor vehicle dealers from making misrepresentatio...
TR Daily Members expect further work on the bill, especially with regard to state law preemption and private rights of action. The House Energy and Commerce Committee’s consumer protection and commerce subcommittee yesterday approved by voice vote an...
A periodic roundup of other items of interest to the Antitrust and Trade Regulation community. ANTITRUST—S.D. Cal.: In a price fixing class action against producers and processors of packaged-seafood products, commercial food preparers (CFPs) moved f...
Antitrust & Competition
Because all claims brought by the individual awarded the gas station were predicated on allegations that the ROFR under the station’s franchise agreement was never triggered by the arbitrator’s award of the station, all claims failed. A franchisor pr...
The court found that the settlement agreement was not “fair, reasonable, or adequate.” A second proposed settlement agreement between General Mills and consumers in their deceptive labeling suit has been denied preliminary approval by the federal dis...
Meta allegedly engaged in disparate treatment and a pattern or practice of prohibited discriminatory advertising in violation of the Fair Housing Act; company to pay fine and develop a new system for housing ads to address disparities for race, ethni...
The letter was prompted by the unopposed motion of Meta Platforms, Inc. (Meta), the parent company of Facebook. The federal district court in Washington, D.C., has sent a formal request to the People’s Republic of China to assist in obtaining documen...
The week’s most insightful, intriguing, or entertaining blog posts regarding antitrust and trade regulation issues. Antitrust & Competition Policy Blog, Horizontal Collusion and Parallel Wage-Setting in Labor Markets , by D. Daniel Sokol Antitrust La...
The agency is taking action to require the companies to remove illegal terms and recognize consumers’ right to repair. The FTC has announced that it has filed complaints against Harley-Davidson Motor Company Group, LLC , which manufactures motorcycle...
Antitrust & Competition
Rule 12(b)(6) authorizes the dismissal of claims, not legal theories, hence state law theories saved claims otherwise subject to Illinois Brick dismissal, and the pharmacy plaintiffs otherwise plausibly alleged that a loyalty program resulted in excl...
The court previously found that allegations under the Sherman Act were speculative. The Fifth Circuit affirmed the judgment of the Northern District of Texas holding that Continental Automotive Systems, Inc., (Continental) failed to state claims unde...
The delivery company failed to provide evidence that the program agreements signed did not contain arbitration clauses. The federal district court in Greensboro, North Carolina granted a motion to dismiss and compel arbitration in favor of Amazon Log...
RICO allegations of the coverup of sexual harassment complaints against a former football coach could not be traced to the former employee’s alleged injuries. A federal district court in Louisiana dismissed claims brought by the former associate athl...
Appellate panel holds that hospital was properly found to have complied with disclosure laws and that hospital had no further duty under the Consumer Legal Remedies Act to disclose its EMS fees to prospective patients through additional emergency roo...
This is the second Supreme Court visit for the 15-year multi-district dietary supplement antitrust litigation; manufacturers characterize purchasers' request to invite Solicitor General's to weigh in as "petitioners' last gasp." Chinese manufacturers...
Antitrust & Competition
A mixture of AT&T and Verizon customers in Indiana and Illinois asserted that by bringing this action they were seeking to vindicate their rights under the antitrust laws, undo the T-Mobile merger with Sprint, and recover damages for overcharges. A g...
The consumers asserted the drug marketer knew the prescription version of the patch contained more lidocaine than did the over-the-counter product it labeled “Maximum Strength.” Claims that the maker of a lidocaine patch knowingly mislabeled its prod...
The trial court erred by looking beyond the four corners of the amended complaint filed by a medical device distributor against the manufacturer and failed to accept as true all properly pleaded allegations when it granted the motion to dismiss. A Fl...
Small and medium-sized businesses say tech behemoths use their dominance to tilt the competitive scales in favor of their products and services. In a letter addressed to all members of the U.S. Senate, more than 60 small- and medium-sized companies a...
In its Saxon opinion, the petitioner contends, the Court left open a question regarding classes of workers who carry out duties removed from actual border crossings, and it argued that this petition offers the perfect opportunity to address it. In a ...
‘Allen Toussaint Legacy Act,’ named after famed New Orleans musician and composer, creates post-mortem publicity rights for individuals who were domiciled in Louisiana, as well as rights for living Louisianans. Louisiana residents—living or dead—have...
The decisions, arguments, briefs, and petitions concerning antitrust and trade regulation issues before the October 2021 Term of the U.S. Supreme Court are presented in this Antitrust Law Daily feature. The Supreme Court continues to clear the docket...
Antitrust & Competition
TOP STORY—S.D.N.Y.: Price fixing claims go forward against six European Government Bond sellers
The European Government Bond (EGB) sellers previously lost a motion to dismiss claims that they conspired to raise EGB prices and the court declined to reconsider the decision allowing the claims to move forward. A federal district court in New York ...
The plaintiff conceded that extract of the vanilla bean may have been used to create the product’s vanilla flavor. The U.S. district court in Springfield, Massachusetts dismissed a complaint alleging that Breyer Vanilla Bean ice cream was materially ...
Just cause also existed under Law 75 to terminate the unwritten agreement. The federal district court in Puerto Rico denied foodservice distributor José Santiago Inc.’s motion for a preliminary injunction that would have ordered Smithfield Foods to c...
The plaintiffs failed to sufficiently allege a continuity of unlawful activity by the defendants. AMA Systems, LLC (AMA) and Bluemar Promotions, LLC (Bluemar) filed suit against the defendants 3B Tech, Inc. (3B Tech), Pro-Com Products, Inc. (Pro-Com)...
Chair Khan confirmed the agency’s commitment to investigating mergers, acquisitions with a focus on potential harm to workers. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) released a letter from Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chair Lina Khan sent in response t...
The court partially annulled the European Commission decision fining eight optical disc drive (ODD) suppliers a total of €116 million for having coordinated their behavior in relation to procurement tenders organized by two computer manufacturers, bu...
A periodic roundup of other items of interest to the Antitrust and Trade Regulation community. ANTITRUST—6th Cir.: Under Wisconsin law (Wis. Stat. § 103.465), a non-solicitation clause barring a president and CEO of plastic-manufacturing business Pen...