Competition

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Merger Enforcers End Year On Upswing

The Biden administration's antitrust enforcers have boasted that one side effect of their aggressive approach to merger enforcement has been helping stop problematic deals from being cut in the first place, but the agencies also scored key court rulings blocking transactions in their final year that could have a more enduring effect.
January 10, 2025
NASCAR Loses Bid To Toss Racing Teams' Antitrust Suit

A North Carolina federal judge on Friday denied NASCAR's motion to dismiss a lawsuit lodged by two racing teams that accused the organization of maintaining a monopoly, saying it is too early to determine a dismissal because the teams sufficiently alleged antitrust claims.
January 10, 2025
Hog Supplier's Contract Tussle With Smithfield OK'd For Trial

A former hog supplier in North Carolina can take some of its breach of contract claims to trial in a lawsuit alleging Smithfield Foods Inc.'s pricing practices were a death knell for the supplier's swine operations, according to a newly unsealed state Business Court opinion.
January 10, 2025
Off The Bench: Venu Deal Off, Fox Suit, Gender Rules Wobble

In this week's Off The Bench, a last-minute merger ends litigation over the new sports streaming service Venu, only for its backers to mothball the project entirely, Fox Sports is rocked by lurid sexual harassment claims, and a federal judge knocks down an attempt to expand transgender discrimination protections.
January 10, 2025
NC Machinery Co. Says Rival Lied To Hide Trade Secrets Theft

A North Carolina machining tools manufacturer is suing the American arm of its Germany-based rival in state Business Court, claiming the competitor has been hiring away its talent to acquire its trade secrets and then misrepresenting its job descriptions to hide the alleged scheme.
January 10, 2025
Wright Must Detail $108M Damages Claim Against Accusers

Joshua Wright, a former commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission, must reappear for a deposition to answer previously unanswered questions posed by two women he's suing for defamation on the details of his $108 million damages claim against them, a Virginia judge ruled Friday.
January 10, 2025
Lawyer Seeks New Trial Against Blank Rome Attorneys

A lawyer who lost her malicious litigation case against Blank Rome LLP attorneys and an aviation company in Philadelphia last month has moved for a new trial in Pennsylvania federal court, citing what she called "numerous errors committed by the district court" in her first trial.
January 10, 2025
EU Greenlights $35B Synopsys-Ansys Deal With Remedies

The European Commission said Friday it has conditionally approved Synopsys Inc.'s proposed $35 billion acquisition of Ansys Inc. after the companies agreed to certain divestitures, as the megadeal continues to make regulatory progress across jurisdictions.
January 10, 2025
ESPN, Fox, Warner Bros. Abruptly Scrap Sports Streaming JV

ESPN, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery called off their Venu joint live sports streaming venture Friday, just days after ESPN parent company The Walt Disney Co. used the acquisition of a majority stake in streaming startup FuboTV Inc. to nix Fubo's challenge to Venu on the courthouse steps.
January 10, 2025
Apple Showdown Starts 1st Wave Of Big Tech Class Actions

Apple will become the first big technology company to go on trial under the U.K. collective action regime on Monday, facing a claim of abuse of dominance that could have significant consequences for several other class actions against tech giants including Google, Meta and Amazon.
January 10, 2025
Sports Betting Company Challenges CMA Order To Sell Biz

Sports betting company Spreadex has appealed against an order by the Competition and Markets Authority that it must sell a business it acquired in 2023 over concerns that a combined entity would harm the market for licensed online sports spread-betting.
January 10, 2025
DOJ Sues To Block Amex GBT's $570M Deal For Rival CWT

The U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit Friday seeking to block American Express Global Business Travel Inc.'s planned $570 million acquisition of corporate travel management rival CWT Holdings LLC.
January 09, 2025
'Stunned': Judge Rips Atty For Violating Antitrust Trial Order

A California federal judge overseeing an antitrust jury trial over claims that Intuitive Surgical was a monopolist that abused its power by blocking hospitals from using a service to extend the life of a component related to its surgical-robot arms said Thursday she was "stunned" when plaintiff Surgical Instrument Service showed a video that violated a pretrial order.
January 09, 2025
Vape Laptop Hacking Suit Belongs In Court, Co. Says

A vape-maker has urged a California federal court to deny a bid by the founder of vape distributor Next Level to arbitrate the manufacturer's claims that he broke into a laptop to access its confidential information, saying he's not a signatory to an underlying arbitration agreement.
January 09, 2025
Amgen Says Enbrel Protected By Legit Patents, Rulings

Amgen has asked a Virginia federal judge to permanently toss the latest version of a proposed class action accusing it of illegally entrenching and expanding patent rights to stave off cheaper competition for Enbrel, arguing the blockbuster arthritis treatment is protected by legitimate patents and court rulings of validity.
January 09, 2025
Cancer Org Fails To Get Rival's TM Counterclaims Tossed

A Georgia federal judge said Thursday that the Glioblastoma Foundation Inc. can't yet escape a series of counterclaims filed against it by a rival nonprofit amid a trademark spat, ruling that its defenses in a dismissal bid largely relied on factual issues about whether the rival fraudulently obtained the marks at issue.
January 09, 2025
Kroger Drops FTC Constitutionality Fight After Nixed Merger

Kroger on Thursday voluntarily dismissed its case challenging the constitutionality of the Federal Trade Commission's in-house court, after the agency dropped its administrative case targeting the grocery chain's abandoned deal for Albertsons.
January 09, 2025
NCAA Insists Player Seeking One More Season Is Out Of Time

A former junior-college basketball player seeking to play one more season is not entitled to do so because he has played the maximum number of seasons allowed, the NCAA told a Mississippi federal court in defense of the eligibility policy the player seeks to upend.
January 09, 2025
DOJ Wants Time At 9th Circ. In Zillow, NAR Antitrust Case

The U.S. Department of Justice has asked the Ninth Circuit for permission to appear at oral arguments in an appeal looking to revive antitrust claims from a defunct brokerage platform against Zillow and the National Association of Realtors.
January 09, 2025
Grocers Say Nothing Left To Fight In Colo. Merger Challenge

Kroger and Albertsons told a Denver District Court that the state's challenge to its merger should be dismissed now that the deal is dead, arguing in a motion that the state always knew that decisions in other lawsuits could render its claim moot.
January 09, 2025
Asphalt Exec Latest To Plead Guilty In Bid-Rigging Scheme

A metro Detroit asphalt executive pled guilty Wednesday for his role in a conspiracy to rig bids for paving jobs in Michigan, the latest plea in the government's sprawling investigation into multiple companies and their leaders for a scheme that resulted in millions of dollars' worth of rigged contracts.
January 09, 2025
DirecTV, Dish Say Sports Streamer Harmful Despite Fubo Deal

DirecTV and Dish are hoping to pump the brakes on any immediate plans to unwind a New York federal court's injunction stopping the ESPN, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery joint sports venture from hitting the market after Disney announced its majority acquisition of the deal's biggest challenger, Fubo, this week.
January 09, 2025
US Steel And Nippon's Lawsuit Seen As 'Hail Mary' Attempt

President Joe Biden may not have put forth an airtight national security argument for blocking Nippon Steel's planned acquisition of U.S. Steel, but the companies' subsequent lawsuit is still highly unlikely to earn them another chance at making the deal happen, according to legal experts.
January 09, 2025
High Court Ruling Looms Over FERC Gas Enforcement Deal

A TotalEnergies unit will pay $5 million to end a decadelong Federal Energy Regulatory Commission gas market manipulation probe, an enforcement case that was weakened by the U.S. Supreme Court's June ruling that limits the authority of in-house agency judges.
January 09, 2025
DOJ Fights Apple's Intervention In Google Search Remedies

The U.S. Department of Justice is opposing Apple Inc.'s "eleventh-hour effort" to have a say in what should be a proper fix for Google's search monopoly, telling a D.C. federal judge that the company has had ample opportunity to defend its lucrative revenue-sharing agreement with Google.
January 09, 2025
Beer Sales Rep Can't Show Lasting Harm From Noncompete

A former Boston Beer Co. sales employee challenging a one-year noncompete agreement has failed to show how she will suffer irreparable harm without a preliminary injunction, a Massachusetts federal judge ruled Wednesday, saying any damages are "readily calculable" if she ultimately wins the case.

Editor's Picks

Google Ad Tech Trial: 15 Days On The Rocket Docket

The Justice Department wrapped an extraordinary antitrust trial last week that left a Virginia federal judge pondering whether Google is even dominant in the display advertising placement technology market or just another player.
FTC Withdraws From Feds' Merger Review Labor Pact

The Federal Trade Commission is withdrawing from an agreement signed in August with the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Department of Labor and the National Labor Relations Board that's meant to increase collaboration when looking at labor issues in mergers.
US Antitrust Holds Fast: No 'Environmental Justice' Goals

A top Federal Trade Commission official in her latest address to antitrust lawyers offered little comfort to U.S. companies seeking to collaborate on environmental initiatives.

Expert Analysis

Penn State Brand Case Leaves Ornamentality Unresolved

While the recent jury verdict in Penn State University v. Vintage Brand was a win for the college and brands, legal practitioners should expect plenty of litigation around unaddressed ornamentality issues of whether marks that are not yet incontestable can be canceled for being used solely in decorative, non-source-identifying ways, say attorneys at Debevoise.
Series

Illinois Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q4

While the last quarter of 2024 didn't bring any notable state financial legislation, Illinois banks did see developments in the challenge to the Interchange Fee Prohibition Act, and received some awaited guidance on credit line disclosures and bank-fintech relationships, say attorneys at Dykema.
7 Ways 2nd Trump Administration May Affect Partner Hiring

President-elect Donald Trump's return to the White House will likely have a number of downstream effects on partner hiring in the legal industry, from accelerated hiring timelines to increased vetting of prospective employees, say recruiters at Macrae.
E-Discovery Quarterly: Rulings On Custodian Selection

Several recent rulings make clear that the proportionality of additional proposed custodians will depend on whether the custodians have unique relevant documents, and producing parties should consider whether information already in the record will show that they have relevant documents that otherwise might not be produced, say attorneys at Sidley.
Takeaways From DOJ, FTC End To Collaboration Guidelines

The Federal Trade Commission's and U.S. Department of Justice's recent decision to withdraw the guidelines for collaborations among competitors may reflect a desire for clearer parameters by emphasizing case law on specific ventures, but it also carries the potential to chill some future collaboration, say attorneys at Patterson Belknap.
What To Expect In Higher Ed Enforcement Under Trump

Colleges and universities should prepare for shifting priorities, as President-elect Donald Trump is likely to focus less on antitrust cases and more on foreign relations policy, while congressional oversight of higher education continues to increase, say attorneys at Steptoe.
Series

NY Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q4

In 2024's final quarter, the New York State Department of Financial Services published guidance on mitigating the rising cybersecurity risks of artificial intelligence and remote technology workers with North Korean ties, and the state attorney general launched an antitrust investigation into Capital One's proposed Discover merger, say attorneys at Haynes Boone.
Series

Exercising On My Peloton Bike Makes Me A Better Lawyer

While I originally came to the Peloton bike for exercise, one cycling instructor’s teachings have come to serve as a road map for practicing law thoughtfully and mindfully, which has opened opportunities for growth and change in my career, says Andrea Kirshenbaum at Littler.
3 Factors Affecting Retail M&A Deals In 2025

Retailers considering mergers and acquisitions this year face an evolving antitrust environment, including a new administration under President-elect Donald Trump, revised merger guidelines and a precedent set last year by a canceled $8.5 billion handbag merger, say attorneys at DLA Piper.
FTC Picks Augur Pro-Business Bent For Much Of Economy

President-elect Donald Trump's choice of two top Federal Trade Commission officials suggests a business-friendly climate for a significant portion of the U.S. economy, with noteworthy exceptions of continued scrutiny of healthcare and Big Tech companies, excluding artificial intelligence, say attorneys at BCLP.
Top 10 Legal Issues This Year For Transportation Industry GCs

General counsel must carefully consider numerous legal and policy challenges facing the automotive and transportation industry in the year to come, especially while navigating new technologies, regulations and global markets, says Francesco Liberatore at Squire Patton.
Exploring Venue Strategy For Trump-Era Regulatory Litigation

Litigation will likely play a prominent role in shaping policy outcomes during the second Trump administration, and stakeholders have several tools at their disposal to steer regulatory litigation toward more favorable venues, say attorneys at Covington.
What 2024's Noncompete Turmoil Means For Banks In 2025

A look back at the most significant legal challenges to the enforceability of various restrictive covenants like noncompete and nonsolicitation agreements in 2024 can help financial institutions address the use of these critical tools this year, say attorneys at Maynard Nexsen.
Searching For Insight On Requested Google Chrome Remedy

The potential for Google to divest its Chrome browser — a remedy requested by the Justice Department following a D.C. federal court’s finding the company is a monopolist — has drawn both criticism and endorsement, but legal precedent likely supports the former, say attorneys at Ballard Spahr.
Opinion

3 New Year's Resolutions For Antitrust Agencies To Consider

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.