Mintz Levin - Antitrust

Merger agreements often contain ancillary provisions that seem acceptable to the parties in the context of what they are obtaining from the transaction—and those provisions often do not get a hard look by antitrust legal…more

In a recent federal court decision, the NCAA obtained dismissal of a claim that certain rules governing athletic grants-in-aid violated the antitrust laws. The case, Rock v. NCAA, was led by three former student-athletes and…more

In AT&T Mobility LLC v. AU Optronics Corp., Ninth Circuit Case No. 11-16188 (Feb. 14, 2013), the Ninth Circuit held that California’s antitrust law, the Cartwright Act, could apply to a price fixing conspiracy of LCD panels even…more

On February 19, 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously held that state-action immunity does not protect a state-created hospital authority from antitrust scrutiny over a proposed hospital merger where the anticompetitive…more

Since the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), much attention has been paid to the antitrust treatment of Accountable Care Organizations, provider ventures contemplated by the ACA that the Federal Trade Commission and…more

On January 31, 2013, the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) filed its first lawsuit challenging a merger under newly sworn-in Assistant Attorney General, William J. Baer. Both the facts and circumstances…more

On January 16, the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division (“DOJ”) announced that it does not presently intend to challenge the Greater New York Hospital Association’s (“GNYHA”) proposed gainsharing program. The program was…more

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced on January 10, 2013 increased jurisdictional thresholds for premerger notification filings under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, as amended (the HSR Act)…more

The balancing of antitrust enforcement with intellectual property protections is often controversial. Equally controversial is identifying the outer limit of Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act as it may apply to…more

The Third Circuit has been a source of important and controversial jurisprudence regarding antitrust liability for single-firm conduct. For example, in LePage’s Inc. v. 3M, 324 F.3d 141 (3d Cir. 2003) (en banc), cert. denied,…more

The filed rate doctrine precludes antitrust challenges to rates set or approved by federal agencies. The doctrine is broadly applied and covers, for example, wholesale electricity rates that are filed with the Federal Energy…more

On September 10, 2012, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) hosted a public workshop exploring the uses of most-favored-nation clauses (MFNs) and their implications for antitrust enforcement…more

On August 30, 2012, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio denied a motion to dismiss a complaint that alleged a per se group boycott by a managing agent and its affiliated hospitals in violation of Section 1…more

In Drug Mart Pharmacy Corp. v. American Home Products Corp., 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11582 (E.D.N.Y. Aug. 16, 2012), Magistrate Judge Steven M. Gold gave the Robinson-Patman Act another drubbing. He granted summary judgment for…more

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently announced proposed amendments to the Premerger Notification Rules (HSR Rules) to clarify reporting requirements under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, as…more