On February 13, 2026, our prior alert reported that a judge in the Eastern District of Texas vacated the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) Final Rule promulgating the new Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) form, which went into effect...more
On February 12, 2026, a federal judge in the Eastern District of Texas vacated the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) final rule promulgating a new Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Act premerger notification form (Final Rule). The FTC...more
The California Law Revision Commission (the Commission) recently released draft legislative changes that could make California’s Cartwright Act a bigger force in government and private antitrust enforcement. ...more
In remarks earlier this month, US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chairman Andrew Ferguson stated that the FTC intends to investigate a growing practice in the tech industry known as “acquihiring” (a portmanteau of acquiring...more
On January 14, 2026, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced revised thresholds for merger notifications under the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Act. The new thresholds and fee schedule will be effective February 17, 2026,...more
In a notable departure from past practice, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed suit in federal district court on December 15, 2025, to permanently enjoin Henkel AG & Co. KGaA and its subsidiaries (Henkel) from acquiring...more
1/9/2026
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Litigation ,
Competition ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FTC Act ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers ,
Permanent Injunctions ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Subsidiaries
Recent developments have made navigating multinational antitrust merger reviews even more complex and replete with traps for the unwary. ...more
7/8/2025
/ Antitrust Investigations ,
Antitrust Litigation ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
China ,
Competition Authorities ,
Enforcement Authority ,
EU ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Geopolitical Risks ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
International Trade ,
Member State ,
Merger Controls ,
Merger Reviews ,
Mergers ,
Multinationals ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
UK ,
UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA)
After President Trump’s election for a second term, those predicting where federal antitrust enforcement was headed had to contend with internal tensions in the Trump coalition that extend to economic policy more broadly:...more
On April 4, 2025, Washington became the first state to enact the Uniform Antitrust Premerger Notification Act (Model Act), requiring parties to certain notifiable transactions under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust...more
Since their release, the federal antitrust agencies’ 2023 Merger Guidelines (2023 Guidelines) have faced significant criticism from many. There was speculation that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Department of Justice...more
On January 10, 2025, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced adjusted thresholds for merger notifications under the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Act. Effective 30 days after the official publication date of the adjusted...more
1/16/2025
/ Antitrust Provisions ,
Competition ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Filing Requirements ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Interlocking Directorate ,
Jurisdictional Thresholds ,
Mergers ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Size of Persons Test ,
Size of Transaction Test ,
The Clayton Act ,
Threshold Requirements
Three crude oil producers have agreed to pay civil penalties totaling $5.7 million to settle allegations that they engaged in “gun jumping,” namely, allowing the acquirer to exercise control over the target’s business conduct...more
1/14/2025
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Competition ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Gun-Jumping ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Mergers ,
Oil & Gas
Novo Nordisk May Proceed with Its Ozempic Suit Against DCA Pharmacy. A Tennessee federal court denied DCA Pharmacy’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit filed by Novo Nordisk Inc. alleging a violation of Tennessee state unfair and...more
For the first time in over 45 years, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) adopted on October 10, 2024, extensive changes to the notification form for acquisitions subject to Hart-Scott-Rodino Act (HSR) review. The new form...more
In a landmark decision, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has limited the European Commission’s (EC) ability to review mergers that fall outside thresholds at the EC level and in the Member States seeking to refer the...more
9/6/2024
/ Competition Authorities ,
Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
European Merger Control Regulation ,
Jurisdiction ,
Jurisdictional Thresholds ,
Member State ,
Merger Controls ,
Merger Reviews ,
Mergers ,
Threshold Requirements
In this episode of In the Public Interest, co-host Felicia Ellsworth is joined by WilmerHale Partner Lee Greenfield to discuss the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Department of State v. Muñoz. The case concerns the due...more
Federal Circuit Allows Teva Patents to Remain in Orange Book. -
The Federal Circuit recently granted Teva Pharmaceutical’s motion for a stay of removal of its patents from the Orange Book in its ongoing dispute with...more
8/1/2024
/ Antitrust Litigation ,
Class Action ,
Consumer Protection Laws ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Generic Drugs ,
Health Insurance ,
Life Sciences ,
Orange Book ,
Patents ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Pharmaceutical Patents ,
Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) ,
Sherman Act ,
Teva Pharmaceuticals ,
The Clayton Act
On June 28, the Supreme Court handed down its decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, overruling Chevron U.S.A., Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. In its 1984 Chevron decision, the Court held that...more
7/9/2024
/ Chevron Deference ,
Chevron v NRDC ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Final Rules ,
Government Agencies ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Judicial Review ,
Loper Bright Enterprises v Raimondo ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Proposed Rules ,
Reasonable Interpretations ,
Regulatory Authority ,
SCOTUS ,
Section 5 ,
Statutory Interpretation
Court Orders Delisting of Patents from Orange Book and Denies Motion to Dismiss Antitrust Counterclaims for Improper Orange Book Listings. On June 10, Judge Stanley Chesler of the District of New Jersey entered judgment on...more
7/3/2024
/ Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) ,
America Invents Act ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Cartels ,
Comment Period ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Life Sciences ,
Medicare ,
Monopolization ,
Orange Book ,
Patents ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Price-Fixing ,
Reverse Payments ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Sherman Act ,
USPTO
Second Circuit Affirms “Pay for Delay” Dismissal: On May 13, 2024, the Second Circuit affirmed dismissal of antitrust claims brought by wholesalers, retailers, and employee benefit funds that alleged they overpaid for the...more
5/31/2024
/ Antitrust Provisions ,
Dismissals ,
Fair Value Standard ,
FDA Approval ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Generic Drugs ,
Hatch-Waxman ,
Investment Funds ,
Life Sciences ,
Monopolization ,
Orange Book ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patents ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Retailers ,
Settlement ,
Wholesale
This week, the FTC continued its intense regulatory focus on pharmaceutical patents listed in the FDA’s Orange Book. As reported in earlier editions of The Interplay, the FTC issued a policy statement in September 2023,...more
5/7/2024
/ Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Class Action ,
Class Certification ,
Competition ,
Drug Pricing ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Life Sciences ,
Orange Book ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Pharmaceutical Patents ,
Popular ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Sherman Act ,
Warning Letters
On April 23, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), in a highly anticipated vote, passed the Non-Compete Clause Rule, 16 CFR § 910 (the Rule), which purports to bar all non-competes in the United States, subject to limited...more
4/26/2024
/ Chamber of Commerce ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Federal Bans ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Final Rules ,
Highly Compensated Employees ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Unfair Competition
Calls for Removal of Device Patents Listed in the Orange Book Continue. FTC and Congressional action scrutinizing allegedly “improper” Orange Book listings continued apace in the first few months of 2024. ...more
4/2/2024
/ AbbVie ,
Antitrust Litigation ,
AstraZeneca ,
Boehringer ,
Class Action ,
CVS ,
Delisting ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Generic Drugs ,
GlaxoSmithKline ,
Hospitals ,
Medical Devices ,
Monopolization ,
Mylan Pharmaceuticals ,
Orange Book ,
Patents ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Pharmaceutical Patents ,
Popular ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Rebates ,
Sherman Act ,
Teva Pharmaceuticals
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
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