The two U.S. antitrust authorities—the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ’s) Antitrust Division and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) (collectively, the “Agencies”)—have jointly proposed new Draft Merger Guidelines to replace...more
On July 10, 2023, the United States District Court for the Northern District of California denied the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC’s) request to grant a preliminary injunction of Microsoft’s proposed acquisition of...more
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
Last month, we reported that the U. S. Department of Justice (DOJ) had threatened multiple public companies, private equity investors, and individuals with lawsuits for violating the ban on interlocking directorates under...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
In what appears to be a significant expansion of its antitrust enforcement efforts, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) issued letters to multiple public companies, investors, and individuals this week, stating it may bring...more
9/23/2022
/ Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Litigation ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Safe Harbors ,
The Clayton Act
Wilson Sonsini provides extensive and cutting-edge legal services for innovators, technology pioneers, and disruptors. As part of our focus on emerging technologies, our attorneys are publishing a series on applying and...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