Competition

  • February 25, 2025

    FTC Wins Discovery Spat In Amazon Prime Subscription Suit

    A Washington federal judge won't force the Federal Trade Commission to share with Amazon discussions during past rulemaking about the scope of a federal law protecting online shoppers from deceptive billing, concluding for a second time that such information is irrelevant to whether the company's Prime subscription practices are illegal.

  • February 25, 2025

    Insulet May Face Choice: $452M Award Or Stifling Rival

    A Boston federal judge on Tuesday suggested that a medical device maker could have to choose between portions of its nine-figure trade secrets verdict it won against a rival or its request for a court order to permanently block sales of products based on the stolen technologies.

  • February 25, 2025

    Agri Stats Can't Avoid Price-Fixing Deposition, DOJ Says

    The U.S. Department of Justice is calling on Agri Stats' top executives to face deposition in the agency's price-fixing case, telling a Minnesota federal judge that the company's brass can't avoid questioning just because they were deposed in private suits years ago.

  • February 25, 2025

    FTC Pick Concerned But Won't 'Prejudge' Censorship Claims

    Kressin Meador Powers LLC partner Mark Meador walked a fine line during his confirmation hearing Tuesday when asked for his views on GOP claims of censorship on online platforms, expressing an "overarching concern" about content moderation practices while nevertheless asserting he'll keep an open mind on specific allegations if confirmed as the Federal Trade Commission's newest Republican member.

  • February 25, 2025

    Referral Co. Barred From $5.54B Swipe Fee MDL Settlement

    A New York federal judge has blocked a referral partner of a claims filing service from any role in the $5.54 billion settlement of long-running multidistrict litigation accusing Visa and Mastercard of charging improper merchant fees, after the referral partner allegedly improperly used class member information to submit claims.

  • February 25, 2025

    Competition Group Of The Year: Gibson Dunn

    Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP got Apple out of a $200 billion lawsuit that accused the tech behemoth of using an illegal monopoly to boot COVID-19 tracking and bitcoin applications from its App Store, earning the firm a spot as one of the 2024 Law360 Competition Groups of the Year.

  • February 25, 2025

    Silicon Valley City Planners Say Landowners Can't Duck Suit

    A company backed by a group of Silicon Valley business people looking to build a mini-city has urged a California federal court not to toss price-fixing claims against Solano County property owners, arguing that doing so at this point would be "premature."

  • February 25, 2025

    Sports Direct, Newcastle United Settle UK Football Kit Spat

    Sports Direct has settled its claim accusing Premier League football team Newcastle United of breaching competition law by refusing to stock its stores with the club's replica kits after a rival retailer was given an exclusive supply deal. 

  • February 25, 2025

    IBM Gets UK Green Light On $6.4B HashiCorp Buy

    The U.K. Competition and Markets Authority said Tuesday it has cleared IBM's planned $6.4 billion acquisition of HashiCorp Inc., but a review by U.S. authorities remains open after IBM's original anticipated close date for the transaction came and went.

  • February 25, 2025

    Google Likely Abused Dominance By Refusing EV Charge App

    Europe's highest court ruled Tuesday that Google likely abused its dominance by refusing to allow an electric vehicle charging app to work with Android Auto as part of a preliminary decision in Google's battle with Italian antitrust authorities over a €100 million ($104 million) fine.

  • February 25, 2025

    Apple Exploited App Market, Developers Say In £1.5B Trial

    Apple was accused Tuesday in a £1.5 billion ($1.9 billion) London competition trial of charging app developers excessively high commissions even when they willingly agreed to pay them, in closing arguments of the first U.K. class action trial against a Big Tech company.

  • February 25, 2025

    Telefónica's $1.2B Argentina Unit Sale Faces Antitrust Probe

    The president of Argentina has disclosed plans to probe whether the $1.25 billion sale by Spanish telecommunications giant Telefónica of its business in the South American country to Telecom Argentina will create a monopoly.

  • February 24, 2025

    Apple Exec Had Doubts Over New App Store Fee Compliance

    Apple fellow Phil Schiller testified Monday during a high-stakes compliance evidentiary hearing that he had initially been concerned that Apple's decision to implement a new 27% commission on purchases made outside Apple's App Store wouldn't comply with the court's 2021 anti-steering injunction in its yearslong antitrust fight with Epic Games.

  • February 24, 2025

    US Steel, Nippon Urge Court Not To Toss Cleveland-Cliffs Suit

    U.S. Steel and Nippon Steel have pressed a Pennsylvania federal court to leave intact their suit accusing Cleveland-Cliffs and United Steelworkers union leadership of illegally conspiring to prevent their planned $14.9 billion merger, arguing that they're trying to block an "unlawful agreement," not shut down political speech.

  • February 24, 2025

    CPKC Tells DC Circ. Gov't Merger Approval 'Airtight'

    Canadian Pacific Kansas City is defending the government's approval of the $31 billion merger that created the railroad, telling the D.C. Circuit to reject a challenge to that decision because there was no flaw in the Surface Transportation Board's findings.

  • February 24, 2025

    'Fraternal Duty' No Grounds For Conspiracy, 11th Circ. Told

    A Georgia man found guilty last year of participating in a bid-rigging and price-fixing scheme for tens of millions of dollars of ready-mix concrete contracts asked the Eleventh Circuit Friday to throw out his conviction, arguing federal prosecutors failed to prove a wide-ranging conspiracy that captured the coastal concrete market.

  • February 24, 2025

    Charter Communications Keeps Trade Secrets Suit In Conn.

    A Charter Communications Inc. trade secrets lawsuit against a former Colorado-based vice president will remain in Connecticut, a federal judge ruled from the bench on Monday, greenlighting the company's request for a preliminary injunction in its home state.

  • February 24, 2025

    PBMs To Challenge FTC Case At 8th Circ., But Without Pause

    A Missouri federal judge summarily refused, again, on Monday to temporarily block the Federal Trade Commission's in-house case accusing Caremark Rx, Express Scripts and OptumRx of artificially inflating insulin prices, letting the case proceed while the pharmacy benefits managers appeal to the Eighth Circuit.

  • February 24, 2025

    Tax Software Co. Says Rival Is The Real Trade Secrets Thief

    Corporate-focused tax preparation software company Avalara, accused by Vertex Inc. of poaching workers to steal trade secrets, has asked to file counterclaims, arguing Vertex has actually done the illegal poaching.

  • February 24, 2025

    Placement Co. Hit With False Ads Suit Over Referral Model

    A company that places senior citizens in retirement homes was hit with proposed class claims alleging it falsely advertises free services and steers business away from communities that decline to participate in its "pay-to-play" business model. 

  • February 24, 2025

    Atty Faces $190K Demand After Losing Malicious Litigation Trial

    A trio of Blank Rome LLP attorneys and an aviation company told a Pennsylvania federal court on Friday they are owed combined costs of nearly $200,000 from an attorney who lost a malicious litigation jury trial against them in December.

  • February 24, 2025

    Competition Group Of The Year: WilmerHale

    The competition group at WilmerHale helped Tesla score a key ruling last year in a case challenging efforts to block its direct-sales model in Louisiana and also helped Novelis Inc. reach a favorable settlement in a long-standing dispute with a rival aluminum supplier, earning a spot among the 2024 Law360 Competition Groups of the Year.

  • February 24, 2025

    Apple Antitrust Ace Returns To Latham In Bay Area

    Latham & Watkins LLP announced Monday that it has welcomed back an attorney who was working as in-house counsel for Apple to bolster its antitrust and competition practice and enhance its efforts to handle monopolization cases.

  • February 24, 2025

    NCAA Blasts Baseball Player's Bid For More Eligibility

    The NCAA came out firing against a college baseball player's attempt to play at the University of Tennessee, asserting that its rules governing athletes' eligibility are not reviewable under federal antitrust law despite a recent court decision calling that position into question.

  • February 24, 2025

    High Court Declines To Review Reach Of Trade Secrets Law

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday turned down a petition from a Chinese company asking it to review whether the Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016 can apply extraterritorially.

Expert Analysis

  • Opinion

    3 New Year's Resolutions For Antitrust Agencies To Consider

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    James Fredricks at Skadden rings in 2025 with his wish list for the federal antitrust agencies, starting with a provision for a presumptive safe harbor for information sharing.

  • FTC Focus: A Changing Of The Guard

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    While rigorous antitrust enforcement is unlikely to slow down at the Federal Trade Commission, the focus will undoubtedly change, including when it comes to Big Tech, as Andrew Ferguson prepares to take the reins from Chair Lina Khan, say attorneys at Proskauer.

  • Series

    Playing Esports Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Competing in a global esports tournament at Wimbledon last year not only fulfilled my childhood dream, but also sharpened skills that are essential to my day job, including strategic thinking, confidence and networking, says AJ Schuyler at Jackson Lewis.

  • An Associate's Guide To Career Development In 2025

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    As the new year begins, associates at all levels should consider establishing career metrics, fostering key relationships and employing other specific strategies to help move through the complexities of the legal profession with confidence and emerge as trailblazers, say EJ Stern and Amanda George at Fractional Law Firm.

  • 5 Antitrust Issues For In-House Counsel In 2025

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    Attorneys at Squire Patton evaluate the top areas where U.S. antitrust policy is likely to change in the next 12 months, including major challenges to the Federal Trade Commission's authority that could reshape enforcement.

  • Reviewing 2024's Crucial Patent Law Developments

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    As 2024 draws to a close, significant rulings and policies aimed at modernizing long-standing legal practices or addressing emerging challenges have reached patent law, says Michael Ellenberger at Rothwell Figg.

  • Series

    Fixing Up Cars Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    From problem-solving to patience and adaptability to organization, the skills developed working under the hood of a car directly translate to being a more effective lawyer, says Christopher Mdeway at Kaufman Dolowich.

  • 2024 Has Been A Momentous Year For ESG

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    Significant developments in the environmental, social and governance landscape this year include new legislation, evolving global frameworks, continued litigation and enforcement actions, and a U.S. Supreme Court decision that has already affected how lower courts have viewed some ESG challenges, say attorneys at Katten.

  • Making The Pitch To Grow Your Company's Legal Team

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    In a compressed economy, convincing the C-suite to invest in additional legal talent can be a herculean task, but a convincing pitch — supported by metrics and cost analyses — may help in-house counsel justify the growth of their team, say Elizabeth Smith and Roger Garceau at Major Lindsey.

  • The Story Of 2024's Biggest Bank Regs, And Their Fate In 2025

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    U.S. federal bank regulators were very active in 2024 with initiatives ranging from antitrust and capital to proposals regarding controlling shareholders and incentive-based compensation, but many regulations face an uncertain future under the new administration, say attorneys at Latham.

  • 4 Trade Secret Pointers From 2024's Key IP Law Developments

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    Four significant 2024 developments in trade secret law yield practical tips about defending trade secrets overseas, proving unjust enrichment claims, forcing compliance with posttrial orders and using restrictive covenants to prevent employee leaks of confidential intellectual property, say attorneys at Faegre Drinker.

  • Gov't Scrutiny Of Workplace Chat Apps Set To Keep Growing

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    The incoming Trump administration and Republican majorities in Congress are poised to open numerous investigations that include increasing demands for entities to produce communications from workplace chat apps, so companies must evaluate their usage and retention policies, say attorneys at Orrick.

  • Using Contracts As Evidence Of Trade Secret Protection

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    Recent federal and U.S. International Trade Commission decisions demonstrate an interesting trend of judges recognizing that contracts and confidentiality provisions can serve as important evidence of the reasonable secrecy measures companies must take to prove the existence of protected trade secrets, say attorneys at Finnegan.

  • 2025's Midmarket M&A Terrain May Hold A Few Bright Spots

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    Attorneys at Stoel Rives assess middle-market merger and acquisition trends, and explain why many dealmakers have turned cautiously optimistic about the sector's 2025 prospects, despite potential inflation and new Federal Trade Commission rules.

  • When US Privilege Law Applies To Docs Made Outside The US

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    As globalization manifests itself in disputes over foreign-created documents, a California federal court’s recent trademark decision illustrates nuances of both U.S. privilege frameworks and foreign evidentiary protections that attorneys must increasingly bear in mind, say attorneys at Hunton.

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