The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has lost its long-running suit contending that Meta Platforms monopolized a “personal social networking” (PSN) market by acquiring Instagram and WhatsApp, two acquisitions that the FTC had...more
Econometrics, the application of statistical methods to economic data, can be instrumental in the identification of anticompetitive behavior by assisting in analyses including the assessment of market power, the evaluation of...more
Key Takeaways - While not finalized, the ACCA Guidelines provide valuable insight into how the Bureau will approach its enforcement of the ACCA Sections, including...more
On September 26, 2025, Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York granted eyewear maker EssilorLuxottica’s and related business entities’ (“defendants”) motion to dismiss...more
On September 17, 2025, Judge James Donato of the Northern District of California granted a motion to dismiss a putative antitrust class action, holding that plaintiffs failed to state a plausible Sherman Act claim, dismissing...more
The day before Thanksgiving, eleven Republican state attorneys-general (representing Texas, Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, West Virginia and Wyoming) filed a lawsuit against three...more
The Background: The Australian Federal Treasurer recently announced sweeping reforms to Australia's merger review regime. These reforms will overhaul the current merger review regime in Australia to introduce mandatory filing...more
The Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division continues its aggressive pursuit of enforcement and recently succeeded in blocking a controversial acquisition in the book selling market. After a string of losses in the merger...more
On November 2, 2021, the United States Department of Justice (“DOJ”) filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to block the planned $2.175 billion merger between powerhouse publishing companies...more
The Justice Department filed a complaint in the US District Court for the District of Columbia to block Penguin Random House’s acquisition of Simon & Schuster. Penguin Random House is the largest book publisher in the world...more
Recent Merger Review and Litigation in Australia - Australia's antitrust merger laws have remained largely unchanged since 1993. The law prohibits the acquisition of assets or shares with the effect or likely effect of...more
Australia's competition authority settles allegations that port operator misused its market power. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission ("ACCC") secured a declaration in its first action under Section 46 of the...more
Fortnite game maker Epic Games brings dispute with Apple to Australia, alleging "misuse of market power." Epic Games, developer of the popular game Fortnite, filed proceedings in the Federal Court of Australia alleging...more
On October 7, 2020, FERC affirmed its prior determination that certain demand response resources participating in the New York Independent System Operator, Inc. (“NYISO”) capacity markets—termed Special Case Resources...more
In parallel to a public consultation to seek feedback from the public regarding the New Competition Tool, the European Commission (Commission) is consulting on a proposal for an ex ante regulatory instrument that would ensure...more
When one thinks of technological advances that have forced antitrust lawyers to think about market definition differently, Amazon’s rise to power is perhaps the most obvious example. For years, the behemoth company and its...more
The terms of a settlement that resolved antitrust litigation between the State of California and Sutter Health, the largest health system in Northern California, have now become public, almost two months after the settlement...more
Germany is about to implement an ambitious new “digital antitrust law” (“GWB-Digitalisierungsgesetz”) to effectively regulate online markets. The draft Ministerial bill on the 10th amendment of the German Act Against...more
Six months after the amendment to the Economic Competition Law took effect, the Competition Authority published its position regarding the circumstances in which even an entity with less than a 50% market share may be deemed...more
On 18 October 2017, Australia's Parliament passed into law long-awaited legislation to amend Australia's competition laws. The passing of the Competition and Consumer Amendment (Competition Policy Review) Bill 2017 and...more
The existing EU regulatory framework for electronic communications obliges the EU Member States to provide in their national laws for certain powers and responsibilities of national regulatory authorities (“NRA”), in...more
On November 28, 2016, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) and the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) (together, the “Agencies”) submitted comments on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (the “Commission” or “FERC”)...more
McDermott’s Managing the Transition to Transformation series is designed to help health systems and other health care industry leaders address the many challenges presented by the transformation in payment and care delivery...more
On September 22, 2016, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a Notice of Inquiry (NOI) seeking comment on whether and, if so, how FERC might modify or enhance its methods for identifying and assessing market...more
In recent years, federal antitrust enforcers and businesses that accept payment cards have been waging a slow war against payment card fees and the card network rules that protect them. The payment card industry’s antitrust...more