On July 23, the European Commission, US Department of Justice, US Federal Trade Commission, and UK Competition and Markets Authority released a joint statement setting out shared principles on competition in markets that...more
7/26/2024
/ Algorithms ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Competition ,
Data Collection ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Innovative Technology ,
Joint Policy Statements ,
Machine Learning ,
Personal Data ,
Technology Sector ,
UK ,
UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA)
The healthcare industry remains a focal point of President Biden’s antitrust agenda. The president’s July 2021 Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy called on federal agencies to focus antitrust...more
While the 2022 M&A market was buoyed by deal carryover from 2021 and more conducive market conditions in the first half of the year, the 2023 M&A market felt the impact of the Federal Reserve’s most aggressive interest rate...more
3/22/2024
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Capital Markets ,
Competition ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Financial Markets ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Mergers ,
Safe Harbors ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Takeovers ,
Venture Capital
Parties contemplating transactions in the defense sector need to know about a new obligation to provide materials to the Department of Defense (DOD) that will substantially affect their obligations for transactions that are...more
2/8/2024
/ Antitrust Investigations ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Competition ,
Defense Sector ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
GAO ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Merger Reviews ,
Mergers ,
NDAA
On January 22, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced revised thresholds for merger notifications under the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Act. Effective 30 days after the official publication date in the Federal...more
On December 18, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice jointly released their final Merger Guidelines. The Guidelines “identify the procedures and enforcement practices [the agencies] most often use...more
Under their current leadership, the U.S. federal antitrust agencies have shown antipathy to resolving merger investigations through remedy undertaking that are embodied in consent decrees, preferring instead to seek to...more
On July 19, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice released a draft update of the Merger Guidelines. The draft Guidelines describe how the agencies “review...mergers and acquisitions to determine...more
7/21/2023
/ Antitrust Division ,
Comment Period ,
Competition ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Guidance Update ,
Horizontal Mergers ,
Merger Reviews ,
Mergers ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Vertical Mergers
As described in our Client Alert of July 6, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) proposed on June 27, 2023, a massive overhaul of the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act (HSR) pre-merger notification...more
7/19/2023
/ Antitrust Division ,
Comment Period ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Merger Reviews ,
Mergers ,
Notice Requirements ,
NPRM ,
Premerger Notifications ,
Private Equity ,
Private Equity Funds ,
Proposed Amendments ,
Required Forms
For the first time in 45 years, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Antitrust Division of the US Department of Justice (DOJ) proposed on June 27, 2023, a massive overhaul of the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act (HSR) pre-merger...more
Senior officials at the US Department of Justice Antitrust Division (DOJ) and the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) have made clear that they will not entertain or will sharply limit resolutions of merger investigations...more
On December 29, 2022, President Biden signed into law the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 (the Act), which changes the fee structure for transactions that are notified under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust...more
1/9/2023
/ Antitrust Provisions ,
China ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Filing Fees ,
Foreign Subsidies ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Mergers ,
Pre-Merger Filing Requirements ,
Russia ,
Size of Transaction Test ,
Threshold Requirements
On June 3, 2022, Department of Justice Antitrust Division Deputy Assistant General Richard A. Powers reiterated the Division’s intent to bring more cases to trial and touted the Division’s record number of open...more
On July 9, 2021, the Biden Administration issued an Executive Order on “Promoting Competition in the American Economy.” The Order is notable in its breadth and commitment to a coordinated federal government approach to...more
It has long been recognized that patent pools can create licensing efficiencies by establishing “onestop shops” for patents owned by multiple rights owners. There is also broad consensus that patentee collaboration in patent...more
1/26/2021
/ Antitrust Provisions ,
Big Data ,
Connected Cars ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Internet of Things ,
IP License ,
Patent Ownership ,
Patent Pools ,
Patents ,
Standard Essential Patents ,
Universities
In recent years, both Republican and Democratic-led antitrust agencies have pursued aggressive merger enforcement programs, litigating many cases and settling many more. However, “populist” and other progressive critics have...more
On September 3, 2020, the Department of Justice Antitrust Division (DOJ) updated its 2004 Merger Remedies Manual (see here). The updated Manual clarifies important aspects of the DOJ’s merger remedy practice about which there...more
The first half of 2020 was a busy time for antitrust in the United States. The Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) implemented expedited procedures for reviewing collaborations during the...more
8/27/2020
/ Antitrust Investigations ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Popular ,
Technology Sector ,
Vertical Mergers
Since the beginning of the Trump Administration, the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ) has captured headlines for its aggressive public stance regarding merger enforcement. Actions attracting attention...more
10/8/2018
/ Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Investigations ,
AT&T ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Authority ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Merger Agreements ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers ,
Trump Administration ,
Vertical Mergers
EU and US laws prohibit merging companies from implementing reportable transactions until their deal is cleared or the statutory waiting period has expired. Violations of this principle are colloquially known as “gun-jumping”...more
2/15/2018
/ Antitrust Violations ,
Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
EU ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Gun-Jumping ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers ,
New Guidance ,
Sherman Act ,
Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU)
Earlier this week, the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a lawsuit seeking to unwind Parker-Hannifin's $4.3 billion consummated acquisition of Clarcor. This is a notable challenge for two reasons. ...more
Late last week, with only hours left for the Obama Administration, the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ) released one of the most remarkable gun-jumping enforcement actions in the more than 40-year history...more
More than 21 years ago, the US antitrust agencies issued guidance to the business community on two critical topics of antitrust enforcement: (1) the licensing of intellectual property rights and (2) international enforcement...more