Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, WORTH NOTING—Other Antitrust and Trade Regulation developments, (Feb 2, 2015)

A periodic roundup of other items of interest to the Antitrust and Trade Regulation community:

ACQUISITIONS & MERGERS NEWS: The European Commission has approved the proposed acquisition of Novartis International AG’s vaccines business by GlaxoSmithKline plc (GSK), along with the proposed establishment of a new entity that combines the health activities of the two companies. The approval, however, is conditioned upon GSK’s divestment of certain bacterial meningitis vaccines and certain smoking cessation, cold sore management, flu, and pain management products. The EC determined that, absent the divestments and other exclusive licenses and exclusive distribution agreements, the acquisition would lead to price increases on the various vaccines and consumer health products for European consumers.

ACQUISITIONS & MERGERS NEWS: Novartis International AG’s acquisition of GlaxoSmithKline plc’s oncology business was approved by the European Commission. The decision was made conditional upon the divestment of two cancer treatments that block cell proliferation, responsible for tumor growth and progression. The divestments allay the EC’s concerns that the transaction would reduce the number of companies developing the cancer treatments for skin cancer from three to two, and that it would reduce innovation.

FRANCHISING & DISTRIBUTION NEWS: The federal district court in Los Angeles has denied the request of Hoteles Del Cabo S. De R.L. De C.V., owner of a luxury resort hotel in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, for a temporary restraining order (TRO) and preliminary injunction against Capella Hotel Group, LLC , based on alleged trademark infringement in Capella’s advertising and social media practices. Hoteles had terminated Capella’s operating agreement for the resort hotel and changed the name of the hotel, but Capella allegedly continued to advertise and use the Capella name for the hotel. The court ruled that Hoteles failed to allege or demonstrate the requisite immediate and irreparable harm required for a TRO (Hoteles del Cabo S. de R.L. de C.V. v. Capella Hotel Group, LLC, January 26, 2015, Wright, O.).

News: AcquisitionsMergers Antitrust FranchisingDistribution