Aetna and Humana Go to Battle With Regulators Over Multi-Billion Dollar Merger
The trial over Aetna and Humana's $37 billion proposed merger kicked off today in a Washington, D.C. federal court. At issue is whether the companies' merger would substantially lessen competition for...
View ArticleWhen Can False Advertising Lead to Sherman Act Liability? The Fifth Circuit...
In a December 2, 2016 decision, Retractable Technologies, Inc. v. Becton Dickinson & Company, the Fifth Circuit opined on when false advertising can lead to liability under the Sherman Act. The...
View ArticleDOJ and Stage AG Investigations Into Generic Pricing Lead to Suits Against...
As we have previously reported, (click, here, here, here, and here to read more), generic drug manufacturers have recently come under intense scrutiny from state and federal regulators for their price...
View ArticleFederal District Court finds brand-name manufacturer’s alleged regulatory...
In a recent decision denying the defendant’s motion to dismiss, Judge Mitchell Goldberg of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania allowed the manufacturer of a generic version of Suboxone to proceed upon...
View ArticleCircuit Split on Certification: How far can evidence of price-fixing carry...
Manufacturers of containerboard and corrugated products have asked the Supreme Court to weigh in on a Circuit split concerning the impact of negotiated prices on class certification in antitrust cases...
View ArticleCourt Finds Apple is a Distributor of iPhone Apps, Allows Antitrust Suit
In a significant Illinois Brick decision, the Ninth Circuit recently issued an opinion concluding that consumers who purchase apps from Apple’s “app store” directly purchase those apps from Apple,...
View ArticleFTC Sues Qualcomm for Using Anticompetitive Tactics to Maintain Chip Monopoly
Last week, the FTC filed a complaint against Qualcomm, a manufacturer of baseband processors, which are chips included in cell phones and other products with cellular connectivity that allow the...
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Ohlhausen’s Appointment as Acting Chair of FTC Signals Potential Change in...
President Donald Trump last week designated Maureen K. Ohlhausen as acting chair of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”). Ohlhausen is a vocal critic of government involvement in the market,...
View ArticleSecond Circuit Declares That, to Survive Motions to Dismiss, Antitrust...
Last Wednesday, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals partially vacated the judgment of the district court in In re Actos End-Payor Antitrust Litigation. In doing so, the Second Circuit allowed only...
View ArticleA tale of two mergers: Following their losses in DOJ merger challenges,...
In the past month, the DOJ and several state governments scored two trial wins in their challenges to mergers among some of the country’s largest health insurers. First, Judge Bates of the District of...
View ArticleAlleging a Negative: The Challenges of Bringing a Refusal-to-Deal Claim
What does to take to state a claim under Section 2 of the Sherman Act for refusal to deal? Last week’s decision in Viamedia, Inc. v. Comcast Corp. and Comcast Spotlight, LP, a case out of the Northern...
View ArticleThe Government Seeks to Intervene in its Third Generic Drug Price-fixing Lawsuit
Since we last reported on the state and federal government’s generic drug pricing investigations and litigations (click here to read more), the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) has obtained its first...
View ArticleThe UFC’s Biggest Bout Yet: Its Battle Against Its Fighters’ Antitrust Lawsuit
We have not previously reported on an antitrust litigation that is enveloping the mixed martial arts (“MMA”) world. Six current and former MMA fighters have filed a class action lawsuit against the...
View ArticleThird Circuit: On-Campus Residency Requirements Protected By State-Action...
In a recent decision, the Third Circuit held that a public university and its non-profit partner were immune from antitrust liability after the university enacted a student residency policy that...
View ArticleTenth Circuit Clarifies Rule of Reason Analysis for Tying Claims
Tying is a chameleon in antitrust law. Courts can condemn tying arrangements as either per se violations or as unlawful under the rule of reason. For a per se tying violation, plaintiff must show...
View ArticleDOJ Raids Maritime Industry Meeting and Serves CEOs with Subpoenas
Media outlets have reported that the U.S. Department of Justice raided the maritime industry’s “Box Club” meeting, which is more formally known as the meeting of the International Council of...
View ArticleSupreme Court won’t weigh in on Sherman Act liability for false advertising
The incentive is high to identify a Sherman Act violation in your competitor’s conduct—three times higher, to be precise, than to bring a claim for an ordinary business tort or even a false advertising...
View Article“SMARTER” Act Advances in Congress: Will It Become Law?
For the third straight legislative session, the House Judiciary Committee has voted in favor of a bill—the Standard Merger and Acquisition Reviews Through Equal Rules (“SMARTER”) Act—that would amend...
View ArticleNo Use Crying Over Settled Claims?: Second Circuit Affirms Approval of Dairy...
This week, the Second Circuit affirmed the approval of a $50 million agreement settling price-fixing claims brought by a class of farmers against a dairy cooperative and a dairy marketing company. The...
View ArticleMylan Sued For Illegally Protecting EpiPen®’s Market Share
Last Monday Sanofi brought an antitrust suit against Mylan, alleging that Mylan engaged in illegal conduct to suppress competition in the epinephrine auto-injector (“EAI”) market, which is dominated by...
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