During a recent virtual workshop hosted by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), academics, trade association representatives, and two FTC commissioners advocated for change in the application of Section 2 of the Sherman Act to...more
1/14/2025
/ Algorithms ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Competition ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Digital Marketplace ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Section 2 ,
Sherman Act ,
Technology Sector ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices ,
Unfair Pricing
On January 10, 2025, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced the 2025 threshold for applying the size-of-parties test of the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Act will increase from $119.5 million to $126.4 million. Deals that...more
1/14/2025
/ Acquisition Agreements ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Competition ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Filing Requirements ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Merger Agreements ,
Merger Controls ,
Premerger Notifications ,
Reporting Requirements
OEMs may finally get some clarity in the next couple of months about their obligations under Massachusetts and Maine right to repair laws requiring them to provide owners and independent repair facilities access to mechanical...more
1/10/2025
/ Automotive Industry ,
Data Privacy ,
Data Security ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Manufacturers ,
Motor Vehicles ,
New Legislation ,
NHTSA ,
Right to Repair ,
State Attorneys General ,
Telematics
On January 7, 2025, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced a settlement with three crude oil producers in which those companies will pay a $5.6 million fine to resolve claims they engaged in unlawful premerger...more
1/9/2025
/ Antitrust Provisions ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Competition ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Gun-Jumping ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Merger Controls ,
Oil & Gas ,
Premerger Notifications ,
Sherman Act
On Thursday, December 19, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Illinois Attorney General announced a massive $20 million settlement with Leader Automotive Group, the operator of 10 dealerships in and around...more
12/24/2024
/ Automotive Industry ,
Car Dealerships ,
CARS Rule ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FTC Act ,
Motor Vehicles ,
Section 5 ,
Settlement ,
Statutory Violations ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices
On Tuesday, November 26, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) released a staff report examining the duration of software support commitments by manufacturers of 184 connected devices, ranging from “smart” phones to...more
12/5/2024
/ Automotive Industry ,
Connected Items ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FTC Act ,
Information Technology ,
Innovative Technology ,
Magnuson-Moss Act ,
Motor Vehicles ,
OEM ,
Section 5 ,
Smart Devices ,
Telematics ,
Warranties
Traditionally, Republican administrations have favored deregulation and a more lenient approach to antitrust enforcement that is grounded in economics over policy preferences. This environment often leads to an increase in...more
11/25/2024
/ Antitrust Provisions ,
Biden Administration ,
Competition ,
Corporate Sales Transactions ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Merger Controls ,
Premerger Notifications ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Trump Administration
On November 12, 2024, the final rule issued by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) amending premerger notification requirements under the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Antitrust Act was published in the Federal Register. The HSR Act...more
11/13/2024
/ Antitrust Provisions ,
Competition ,
Corporate Sales Transactions ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Filing Deadlines ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
New Rules ,
Pre-Merger Filing Requirements ,
Premerger Notifications ,
Regulatory Requirements
On October 4, 2024, Asbury Automotive Group, a Fortune 500 company and one of the largest automobile dealer groups in the United States, sued the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to enjoin as unconstitutional the FTC’s...more
10/15/2024
/ Administrative Proceedings ,
Article III ,
Automotive Industry ,
Car Dealerships ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Discriminatory Lending Practices ,
Due Diligence ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Fees ,
Jury Trial ,
Motion To Enjoin ,
Motor Vehicles ,
Seventh Amendment ,
Standing
On October 10, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) voted unanimously to adopt new rules for the premerger notification form and reporting process under the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Act. The new rules expand the scope of...more
The administrative challenge brought by the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) and another trade association against the Combating Auto Retail Scams (“CARS”) Trade Regulation Rule, issued last year by the Federal...more
8/22/2024
/ Automotive Industry ,
Automotive Loans ,
Car Dealerships ,
CARS Rule ,
Commercial Litigation ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FTC Act ,
Motor Vehicles ,
Rulemaking Process ,
State Attorneys General ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices
On Thursday, August 15, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Arizona Attorney General announced a $2.6 million settlement to resolve claims that Coulter Motor Company used deceptive online advertising to lure...more
8/20/2024
/ Automotive Industry ,
Automotive Loans ,
Car Dealerships ,
CARS Rule ,
Commercial Litigation ,
Consumer Fraud ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FTC Act ,
State Attorneys General ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices
A federal court in Wisconsin recently granted a motion to dismiss all claims in a putative multi-district class action against motorcycle manufacturer Harley-Davidson, asserting claims that the OEM’s warranty violated the...more
The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) and the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) announced on Thursday, May 23, that they are expanding their search for businesses using “roll up” strategies to consolidate...more
5/30/2024
/ Acquisition Agreements ,
Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare ,
Popular ,
Public Comment ,
Public Health ,
Request For Information
On April 26, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) announced it had finalized changes to modernize the Health Breach Notification Rule (the “HBNR”) by clarifying its applicability to health and wellness apps and other...more
5/7/2024
/ Breach Notification Rule ,
Data Breach ,
Data Privacy ,
Data Protection ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Digital Health ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Healthcare ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
PHI ,
Popular
On April 18, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”), Justice Department (“DOJ”), and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) launched an online reporting portal, HealthyCompetition.gov, for the public to...more
By any measure, the world has changed vastly since we issued our first Commercial Litigation Outlook in 2020. We are now on our fourth installment of providing insights and flagging trends for what to expect in the coming...more
2/16/2024
/ Arbitration ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Banks ,
Class Action ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Commercial Court ,
Commercial Litigation ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Copyright ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Machine Learning ,
Merger Agreements ,
Patents ,
Trademarks
On January 18, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced it was staying the effective date of its Combating Auto Retail Scams Trade Regulation Rule (the “CARS Rule”) pending resolution of an administrative challenge...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: On January 22, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that the 2024 threshold for applying the size-of-parties test of the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Act will increase from $111.4 million to...more
1/26/2024
/ Antitrust Provisions ,
Corporate Sales Transactions ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Filing Fees ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Merger Controls ,
Pre-Merger Filing Requirements ,
The Clayton Act ,
Threshold Requirements
After more than a year of review, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on December 12, 2023 launched its much-anticipated final rule targeting misleading advertising and sales tactics by new car dealers. First proposed in the...more
12/14/2023
/ Advertising ,
Auto Lease ,
Automotive Industry ,
Car Dealerships ,
Consumer Contracts ,
Electric Vehicles ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Fees ,
Final Rules ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Hidden Fees ,
Material Misrepresentation ,
Motor Vehicles ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Retail Sales
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) continues to focus on the automotive and related industries, with the FTC announcing on March 24, 2023 that it had entered into an agreement settling claims against operators of a...more
In a January 11, 2023 op-ed published in the Wall Street Journal, President Joe Biden urged “Democrats and Republicans to come together to pass strong bipartisan legislation to hold Big Tech accountable.” He warned that the...more
1/24/2023
/ Antitrust Provisions ,
Automotive Industry ,
Biden Administration ,
Big Tech ,
Consumer Privacy Rights ,
Data Collection ,
Data Management ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Motor Vehicles ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform
On October 18, 2022, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced a settlement resolving allegations that Passport Automotive Group, a Maryland-based automobile dealer group, packed junk fees into the cost of the vehicles it...more
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) received dozens of submissions from dealer trade associations, other industry participants, and members of Congress opposing the FTC’s proposed rules for dealers in connection with the...more
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on August 23, 2022 announced that it has decided by a vote of 5-0 to decline requests to extend the public comment period for proposed rules for dealers in connection with the advertising...more