The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed an administrative complaint to block Microsoft Corporation’s (Microsoft’s) nearly $70 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, Inc. (Activision), the largest video game acquisition...more
12/13/2022
/ Acquisitions ,
Administrative Complaints ,
Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Investigations ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Competition ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Gaming ,
Microsoft ,
Online Gaming
In what might be a further expansion of antitrust enforcement of interlocking directorates, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a policy statement announcing that it now interprets Section 5 of the FTC Act to grant it...more
11/15/2022
/ Board of Directors ,
Competition ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FTC Act ,
Interlocking Directorate ,
Section 5 ,
Sherman Act ,
The Clayton Act ,
Unfair Competition ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices
On October 25, 2022, the European Commission (EC) published additional guidance on cartel leniency applications, in the form of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs). The FAQs do not change the standard for leniency applications...more
The Federal Trade Commission's (FTC's) in-house administrative law judge (ALJ) has handed the FTC a loss in its suit to reverse the completed acquisition of GRAIL, Inc. by Illumina, Inc. This is the FTC's second high-profile...more
This month, important amendments to the Chinese Anti-Monopoly Law (AML) came into force. Implementing regulations are now being finalized which will provide further detail on each set of changes.1 The Chinese antitrust...more
The European General Court (GC) has affirmed a EUR 28 million (USD 32 million) fine against Canon for gun-jumping in connection with Canon's 2019 acquisition of Toshiba's medical device business (TMSC). The GC's decision...more
The European Union (EU) will soon be handed sweeping new rules to regulate the conduct of the largest digital platforms with the long-awaited Digital Markets Act (DMA). Following 15 months of intense negotiations on...more
3/31/2022
/ Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Data Protection ,
Data Security ,
Digital Marketplace ,
Digital Markets Strategy ,
EU ,
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) ,
Popular ,
Targeted Digital Advertising ,
Technology Sector
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has lost the first round of its challenge to Altria Group, Inc.’s (Altria) $12.8 billion acquisition of a 35 percent stake in JUUL Labs, Inc. (JLI). On February 17, 2022, an agency...more
The FTC's case against Facebook will be allowed to proceed now that the district court has held its Amended Complaint plausibly alleged violations of Section 2 of the Sherman Act related to Facebook's acquisition of Instagram...more
1/19/2022
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Big Tech ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Facebook ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Instagram ,
Monopolization ,
Sherman Act ,
Social Media ,
WhatsApp
On November 2, 2021, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a lawsuit seeking to block Penguin Random House's proposed acquisition of Simon & Schuster. This lawsuit further demonstrates the Biden Administration's...more
On October 20, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) fined Facebook, Inc. £50.5 million ($69.5 million) for breaching an Initial Enforcement Order (IEO) during the CMA's investigation into the social media giant's...more