To date, 2024 has not yet seen the type of mega-merger (Pfizer/Seagen) or level of agency enforcement (Sanofi/Maze or Amgen/Horizon) as 2023. But two notable investigations — one still active — show the Federal Trade...more
On 3 September 2024, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled that the European Commission (Commission) cannot encourage or accept referrals for below-threshold deals from national competition authorities if those...more
The European Commission (EC) has launched a formal investigation under its abuse of dominance rules into US life sciences company Zoetis in the area of novel veterinary medicines. The EC alleges that the discontinuation of a...more
The European Commission has opened a formal investigation into whether Zoetis, a US animal health company, has acted in breach of the abuse of dominance rules by terminating development of a pipeline drug: when does...more
The Dartmouth men’s basketball team voted to unionize Tuesday in an unprecedented step toward forming the first labor union for college athletes and another blow to the NCAA’s deteriorating amateur business model....more
Canada’s Competition Act was amended effective December 15, 2023 to both (i) establish a new, more expansive framework for challenging anti-competitive conduct by dominant firms and (ii) specifically provide that it is an...more
At this mid-point of 2023, and now several months on from the ABA’s Spring Antitrust conference, there have been several notable developments concerning cartel enforcement, as new leadership settles in at the U.S. Department...more
In Short - The Situation: On 27 March 2023, the European Commission ("Commission") published a Communication amending its 2008 Guidance on enforcement priorities concerning exclusionary abuses ("amended 2008 Guidance...more
On 16 March 2023, the ECJ published its judgment in Towercast (C-449/21), confirming that Article 102 TFEU (which prohibits abuses of a dominant market position) may apply to transactions which fall below national and EU...more
In Short - The Development: The Court of Justice of the European Union ("ECJ") held that national competition authorities ("NCA") may investigate and block an M&A transaction that violates Article 102 of the Treaty on the...more
The long-awaited European Court of Justice's judgment in Towercast confirmed that national competition authorities (and national courts) can apply abuse of dominance rules to mergers that did not trigger EU and national...more
As we enter 2023, the European Commission is redoubling its efforts to scrutinise transactions on a variety of bases. The focus has been on the digital sector for some time, but the impact of the Commission’s expanding...more
On 10 October 2022, the European Commission (EC) sent a Statement of Objections to Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Limited and Teva Pharmaceuticals Europe BV (Teva). The EC has provisionally found that Teva abused its dominant...more
Key Takeaways - The Court holds the Commission to a high standard in respect to the rights of defense. The Court found that the Commission committed several serious procedural violations, including: (i) failure to keep and...more
On January 26, 2022, the EU General Court (the Court) annulled the European Commission’s (the Commission) decision that Intel had abused its dominant position regarding its x86 central processing unit (CPU) computer chips and...more
The EU General Court ("GC") annulled the European Commission's €1.06 billion antitrust fine imposed on Intel in 2009 for allegedly abusing its dominant position in x86 Central Processing Units ("CPUs") by offering loyalty...more
On November 10, 2021, the European Union’s General Court issued a decision largely upholding the European Commission’s finding that Google abused its dominant position by favoring results from its own comparison-shopping...more
The European Commission (EC) issued a EUR 875 million (USD 1.05 billion) cartel fine against German carmakers, namely BMW, Audi, Porsche, and Volkswagen (the latter three are all part of the Volkswagen Group). Daimler was...more
EU antitrust officials are targeting Google for “potentially abusing its dominance in the online advertising market to box out competition”—all part of a “broader push by the European authorities to clamp down on the world’s...more
The Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) governing post-Brexit trade relations between the UK and the EU includes provisions regulating EU-UK antitrust enforcement and cooperation effective 1 January 2021....more
The 10th amendment to the German Act against Restraints of Competition (ARC) - also called the “Digitalization Act” - became effective on January 19, 2021. In a previous alert, we discussed the key aspects of the...more
Europe’s first legislative proposal addressing the digital economy and related competition issues is one step closer to becoming a reality: In September 2020, the German government approved the highly anticipated 10th...more
EU/EFTA/ECN – On 23 March 2020, the competition authorities in the European Competition Network (the European Commission, the EFTA Surveillance Authority, and the national competition authorities of the EU/EEA) issued a Joint...more
For many years, the European Commission (the Commission) has been the global leader in applying antitrust law to the technology sector. This year is no exception. Indeed, there have been a number of new European enforcement...more
EU, UK Competition, State Aid and Public Procurement Law During COVID-19 - While not the most important concern, it should be appreciated that antitrust/competition law, plus the state aid and public procurement rules,...more