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Competition
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November 26, 2024
Pac-12 Agreed To 'Poaching' Clause, Mountain West Insists
The Pac-12 Conference "unconditionally" agreed to all of last year's scheduling agreement with the Mountain West Conference, including a multimillion-dollar "poaching penalty,'' Mountain West claimed in California federal court, pushing back at the Pac-12's argument that the fee for luring away five teams is illegal.
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November 26, 2024
Streaming Biz Brightcove Sold In $233M Go-Private Deal
Streaming technology company Brightcove Inc., advised by Goodwin Procter LLP, has agreed to go private and be bought by Latham & Watkins LLP-led software company Bending Spoons in an all-cash deal valued at around $233 million.
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November 25, 2024
Drake Says UMG Paid To Boost Kendrick Lamar's Diss Track
Universal Music Group conspired with Spotify to blast Kendrick Lamar's "Not Like Us" single to the top of the airwaves by using bots, pay-to-play agreements and other shady tactics at the expense of Drake and other artists, the Canadian rapper alleged Monday in a Manhattan court filing.
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November 25, 2024
Ad Tech Judge Says Google 'Completely Different' From Amex
The Virginia federal judge weighing the fate of Google's display advertising placement business cast doubt Monday on a key element of the company's defense, asserting during closing arguments that the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark Amex decision, requiring consideration of two-sided markets, is far removed from Google's ad tech stack.
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November 25, 2024
Tuna Price-Fixing MDL Lead Attys Awarded $86M In Fees
A California federal judge has agreed to award a combined total of $86 million in fees and costs to lead counsel representing two classes of canned tuna buyers who reached settlements in recent months with StarKist, Dongwon Industries and Lion Capital in a decadelong price-fixing case.
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November 25, 2024
Gov't Defends EB-5 Rule That Hikes Up Petition Fees
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security and its U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services agency pushed for an early win in Texas federal court against a suit challenging increases for filing fees for petitions related to USCIS' EB-5 immigrant investor program.
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November 25, 2024
Grayscale Seeks Win In Rival's $2M Unfair Practices Suit
Digital asset management firm Grayscale Investments LLC seeks a quick finding in its favor that certain securities-related conduct it is being sued over did not violate Connecticut's unfair trade practices law because the law has a securities matters carveout.
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November 25, 2024
Credit Bureaus Freed From VantageScore Antitrust Suit
An Illinois federal judge has ruled there is no evidence the three major credit bureaus conspired with the Fair Isaac Corporation to engage in a monopoly, reasoning there was no impetus for them to do so, but also found that credit score buyers sufficiently backed some of their antitrust claims against FICO.
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November 25, 2024
Conn. Athlete Training Firm Ends Feud With Ohio Ex-Worker
A Connecticut company that orchestrates military-style team-building events for corporations and university athletic teams on Monday settled a short-lived employment lawsuit with an Ohio man it had accused of attempting to poach or meddle with its collegiate accounts in at least seven states.
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November 25, 2024
Judge Bemoans 'Chaotic' Contracts In Jack Nicklaus IP Case
The New York state judge presiding over golf legend Jack Nicklaus' intellectual property lawsuit on Monday signaled he may not be able to untangle a set of contradictory contracts, which could lead to a trial over who can use the "Golden Bear's" name and likeness.
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November 25, 2024
FTC's Antitrust Case Against Meta Gets April Trial Date
A D.C. federal court has set an April 14 trial date for the Federal Trade Commission's antitrust case accusing Meta of monopolizing personal social networking through its acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp.
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November 25, 2024
DOJ Says Realtor Commissions Deal Is No Antitrust Shield
The U.S. Department of Justice warned the National Association of Realtors that changes to broker commission rules agreed to in a settlement with home sellers do not shield the industry from government antitrust scrutiny.
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November 25, 2024
Atty Sanctioned Over Depo Misconduct In Blank Rome Suit
An attorney's alleged personal attacks against opposing counsel, refusal to answer questions and wrongful invoking of attorney-client privilege for certain documents led a Philadelphia federal court to order sanctions against her in an order published Monday.
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November 25, 2024
Trump 2.0 Expected To Maintain Tech Antitrust Cases
President-elect Donald Trump has promised dramatic changes with his pending second term, but antitrust practitioners are anticipating a return to normal after four years of an aggressive Biden administration that's seemed skeptical of big business on the whole, though they also don't expect enforcement to be lax.
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November 22, 2024
PayPal Wants Renewed Suit Over Merchant Rules Tossed
PayPal on Thursday urged a California federal court to again throw out a proposed class action claiming it illegally boosts online retail prices with its restrictive merchant agreements, arguing that the latest version of the complaint doesn't fix any of the issues flagged by the court.
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November 22, 2024
Europe's Antitrust Enforcer Puts Apple E-Book Probe To Bed
The European Union's antitrust enforcer is dropping its probe into whether Apple's requirement that e-books and audiobooks be bought through in-app purchases in its App Store broke the bloc's competition rules.
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November 22, 2024
High Court Bar's Future: Sullivan & Cromwell's Morgan Ratner
Morgan L. Ratner has emerged as a leader of the U.S. Supreme Court bar's next generation, and she attributes her ascent to brilliant mentors, a laid-back argument style, an aversion to overconfidence and a firm commitment to clear principles in every case — even if that means reluctantly telling the chief justice, as she once did, that a hypothetical cat stuck in a tree shouldn't be saved.
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November 22, 2024
Kraft, Others Say No Need To Stay Atty Fees After $53.3M Win
Kraft, Kellogg, Nestle and General Mills have urged an Illinois federal judge not to delay deciding attorney fees following their $53.3 million judgment against egg producers and industry groups, saying further stalling would only prolong the already 13-year-old case.
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November 22, 2024
DOJ Antitrust Head Tracks 'More Aggressive' Criminal Cases
The outgoing head of the U.S. Department of Justice's Antitrust Division used a speech celebrating the anniversary of a major initiative combating bid-rigging and other efforts by government contractors to bilk taxpayer-funded projects to also note that criminal antitrust enforcement more broadly has changed considerably in recent years.
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November 22, 2024
UK Enforcers Concerned Over Apple Mobile Browser Policies
British competition enforcers said Friday that Apple's policies are holding back innovation in the mobile browser space and called for an investigation of the roles played by Apple and Google in the mobile ecosystem under new rules coming into force next year.
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November 22, 2024
New Congress Could Undo Rules On Drinking Water, Methane
A consumer advocacy group is warning that Republicans may target a slew of recent and pending regulatory actions when they take control in Washington next year, saying they could make use of the Congressional Review Act to unwind new rules on competition, lead in drinking water, data protection and more.
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November 22, 2024
FTC Can't Block Amazon's Misconduct Defense In Prime Suit
The Federal Trade Commission can't bar some of Amazon's defenses in an enforcement suit alleging consumers were duped into signing up for Prime delivery service, a Washington federal judge has ruled, allowing the e-commerce giant to argue the regulatory agency engaged in misconduct related to the litigation.
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November 22, 2024
DC RealPage Antitrust Suit Will Get New Judge In 2025
The District of Columbia's case accusing a slew of landlords of using property management platform RealPage to fix the price of rentals is proceeding on schedule, but the judge who has been overseeing the case is going to be handing the matter off to another at the end of the year.
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November 22, 2024
Capital One 'Abuses' Cast Pall Over Discover Deal, Dems Say
As the Biden administration winds down with Capital One's bid to buy Discover Financial still pending, progressive Democrats led by Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are putting renewed pressure on federal bank regulators reviewing the deal.
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November 22, 2024
Bondi Vowed Trump Payback. Ex-Colleagues Aren't Worried.
U.S. attorney general nominee Pam Bondi is an outspoken ally of President-elect Donald Trump and vowed during the campaign that his "prosecutors will be prosecuted," but people who've worked with her say she's well qualified to serve as the nation's top cop and downplayed concerns that she would politicize the U.S. Department of Justice.
Expert Analysis
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What To Know About Insurance Coverage For Antitrust Risks
With all the regulatory activity surrounding antitrust and unfair competition claims, as highlighted by last month's D.C. federal court decision that Google is a monopolist, businesses must not only ensure compliance, but also understand their potential insurance coverage when such claims arise, says Micah Skidmore at Haynes Boone.
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Exploring Practical Employer Alternatives To Noncompetes
With the Federal Trade Commission likely to appeal a federal court’s recent rejection of its noncompete ban, and more states limiting the enforceability of these agreements, employers should consider back-to-basics methods for protecting their business interests and safeguarding sensitive information, says Brendan Horgan at FordHarrison.
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3 M&A Elements To Master In A Volatile Economy
The current M&A market requires a strategic approach to earnouts, past-due accounts payable and employee retention in order to mitigate risk and drive successful outcomes, says Robert Harig at Robbins DiMonte.
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It's No Longer Enough For Firms To Be Trusted Advisers
Amid fierce competition for business, the transactional “trusted adviser” paradigm from which most firms operate is no longer sufficient — they should instead aim to become trusted partners with their most valuable clients, says Stuart Maister at Strategic Narrative.
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Behind 3rd Circ. Ruling On College Athletes' FLSA Eligibility
The Third Circuit's decision that college athletes are not precluded from bringing a claim under the Fair Labor Standards Act raises key questions about the practical consequences of treating collegiate athletes as employees, such as Title IX equal pay claims and potential eligibility for all employment benefits, say attorneys at Debevoise.
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Complying With FTC's Final Rule On Sham Online Reviews
The Federal Trade Commission's final rule on deceptive acts and practices in online reviews and testimonials is effective Oct. 21, and some practice tips can help businesses avert noncompliance risks, say Airina Rodrigues and Jonathan Sandler at Brownstein Hyatt.
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Opinion
A Fuzzy Label With Bite: FTC Must Define Surveillance Pricing
The Federal Trade Commission recently issued orders to eight companies — including Mastercard, McKinsey and Chase — seeking information on "surveillance pricing," but the order doesn't explain the term or make the distinction between legal and illegal practices, leaving any company that uses personalized pricing in the dark, says Chris Wlach at Huge.
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Assessing Algorithmic Versus Generative AI Pricing Tools
A comparison of traditional algorithmic pricing models and those powered by generative artificial intelligence can help regulators and practitioners weigh the pros and cons of relying on large language models to price products or services, say Maxime Cohen at McGill University, and Tim Spittle and Jimmy Royer at Analysis Group.
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A Look At UK, EU And US Cartel Enforcement Trends
The European Union, U.K. and U.S. competition agencies' recently issued joint statement on competition risks in generative artificial intelligence demonstrates increased cross-border collaboration on cartel investigations, meaning companies facing investigations in one jurisdiction should anticipate related investigations in other jurisdictions, say lawyers at Latham & Watkins.
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A Preview Of AI Priorities Under The Next President
For the first time in a presidential election, both of the leading candidates and their parties have been vocal about artificial intelligence policy, offering clues on the future of regulation as AI continues to advance and congressional action continues to stall, say attorneys at Mintz.
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DOJ Must Overcome Hurdles In RealPage Antitrust Case
The U.S. Department of Justice's recent claims that RealPage's pricing software violates the Sherman Act mark a creative, and apparently contradictory, shift in the agency's approach to algorithmic price-fixing that will face several key challenges, say attorneys at Clifford Chance.
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11 Patent Cases To Watch At Fed. Circ. And High Court
As we head into fall, there are 11 patent cases to monitor, touching on a range of issues that could affect patent strategy, such as biotech innovation, administrative rulemaking and patent eligibility, say Edward Lanquist and Wesley Barbee at Baker Donelson.
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EU Merger Control Concerns Remain After ECJ Illumina Ruling
The recent European Court of Justice judgment in Illumina-Grail is a welcome check on the commission's power to review low-threshold transactions, but with uncertainty persisting under existing laws and discretion left to national regulators, many pitfalls in European Union merger control remain, says Matthew Hall at McGuireWoods.
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Why India May Become A Major Patent Litigation Forum
India is reinventing itself with the goal of becoming a global hot spot for patent litigation, with recent developments at the Delhi High Court creating incentives for plaintiffs to assert patent rights in India, say Ranganath Sudarshan at Covington and IP litigator Udit Sood.
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Court Denial Of $335M UFC Deal Sets Bold Antitrust Precedent
A Nevada federal court’s recent refusal to accept a $335 million deal between Ultimate Fighting Championship and a group of former fighters to settle claims of anticompetitive conduct was a rare decision that risks the floodgates opening on established antitrust case law, says Mohit Pasricha at Lawrence Stephens.