The US Supreme Court ruled last week that the Federal Trade Commission doesn’t have the authority to seek equitable monetary relief in federal court under Section 13(b) of the FTC Act in AMG Capital Management LLC v. FTC....more
Parties to transactions requiring filings under the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Act are already facing considerable headwinds from US President Joe Biden’s antitrust enforcement agencies on important substantive and procedural...more
Baseline HSR threshold now $92 million The Hart-Scott-Rodino Act requires that parties to certain transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, acquisitions of voting securities, and assets and minority investments, file...more
2/2/2021
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Division ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Filing Fees ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Interlocking Directorate ,
Mergers ,
Section 8 ,
Size of Persons Test ,
Size of Transaction Test ,
The Clayton Act ,
Threshold Requirements
The Federal Trade Commission announced on January 11 that Everalbum, the developer of the photo storage application called Ever, settled allegations that it deceived users about its use of facial recognition technology and...more
Covid-19 has made 2020 into a year like no other with ‘stay at home’ orders and working from home the new normal. Nonetheless, the tech and pharma industries continued to attract immense antitrust scrutiny, with daily reports...more
The US Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice announced proposed changes to the rules governing Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) filings that, if implemented, would significantly increase the number of transactions that...more
The US Department of Justice Antitrust Division issued a new Merger Remedies Manual on September 3 clarifying the analytical framework the Trump administration’s DOJ is using to evaluate remedies that may address competitive...more
Reaction to recent trial losses; focus of enforcement will remain on mergers between competitors -
On June 30, the US Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission published new Vertical Merger Guidelines...more
Even before the COVID-19 crisis, artificial intelligence and algorithms, particularly in the context of pricing, were a focus of the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division. With the...more
COVID-19 has disrupted supply and demand for public health products and other essential goods and services. In response to surging demand, prices for many of these items have increased sharply. These increases have drawn...more
The US Department of Justice Antitrust Division and Federal Trade Commission issued a joint statement on Tuesday, March 24, making clear to the public that “firms, including competitors, can engage in procompetitive...more
Antitrust FAQs for Merging Parties -
What modifications have the FTC and DOJ made for transactions reportable under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act? Will timing to receive HSR clearance be impacted?...more
Basic threshold $94 million effective February 27 -
Filing thresholds under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act will increase 4.4%, effective February 27, 2020, based on the change in the US gross national product during 2019. The...more
1/30/2020
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Filing Fees ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Mergers ,
Premerger Notifications ,
Size of Persons Test ,
Size of Transaction Test ,
Threshold Requirements
The Federal Trade Commission has promised vigorous antitrust enforcement in life sciences industries, with Chairman Joe Simons promising a "robust program to identify and stop anticompetitive conduct, especially in the...more
Basic threshold now $90 million -
Filing thresholds under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act will increase in mid-March by approximately 6.6%, based on the change in the US gross national product. The most critical threshold, which...more
As 2019 kicks off, the Cooley antitrust group highlights 10 recent developments and trends corporate counsel should be aware of – from the US Supreme Court and lower courts, the Department of Justice and Federal Trade...more
1/10/2019
/ Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Litigation ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Competition ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FRAND ,
Mergers ,
Patents ,
Popular ,
Sherman Act ,
The Clayton Act ,
UK Brexit
Biologic drug makers will soon have to alert the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice of agreements, including patent litigation settlements, they reach with biosimilar applicants. The new reporting requirement...more
High-tech antitrust enforcement is at the top of the Trump administration antitrust enforcement agenda, including challenges to mergers affecting technology platforms and the pharma and life sciences industries. Statements by...more
With new leadership poised to take the helm at the Federal Trade Commission, now is an opportune time to review consumer protection trends and developments to watch over the coming months as the new commissioners get down to...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit this week issued an en banc decision reversing an earlier Ninth Circuit panel order that had found the Federal Trade Commission has no authority over “common carriers,” including...more
What’s on tap for 2018 M&A? A recap of 2017 trends and the Cooley outlook on this year’s dealmaking: -
Buying Innovation: Retention and Non-Competes. For both old-line companies and tech giants, innovation is the name of...more
2/9/2018
/ Acquisitions ,
Appraisal ,
Appraisal Rights ,
CFIUS ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Innovation ,
Life Sciences ,
Mergers ,
Size of Persons Test ,
Size of Transaction Test
1. Trump’s appointments set the antitrust agenda for 2018 -
Almost a year into the Trump Administration, leadership at the Department of Justice Antitrust Division is now set. The Senate confirmed Makan Delrahim as...more
1/25/2018
/ Antitrust Division ,
Cartels ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
IP License ,
No-Poaching ,
Ohio v American Express ,
Popular ,
Price-Fixing ,
Trump Administration ,
Vertical Mergers ,
Wage-Fixing
Leadership at the top of the Department of Justice Antitrust Division and Federal Trade Commission appears to be set – nine months into the Trump Administration – with the confirmation of Makan Delrahim as Assistant Attorney...more
The Federal Trade Commission has recently updated guidance on the use of endorsements in The FTC's Endorsement Guides: What People Are Asking, which address the use of social media and paid influencers to promote companies...more
The DOJ's investigation into price fixing and bid rigging in the automotive parts industry has yielded another conviction, but not one for violation of the antitrust laws. Instead, a company executive recently pleaded guilty...more