Competition

  • September 30, 2024

    Alaska-Hawaiian Merger, An Aviation Anomaly

    A promise to keep their distinct brands and a smaller national market share with few overlapping routes helped Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines seal their merger, a rare feat amid the Biden administration's tough antitrust enforcement and zealous opposition to consolidation, experts say.

  • September 30, 2024

    FCC Approves Audacy's Soros Deal, Triggering GOP Anger

    The Federal Communications Commission has given the green light to the purchase of an ownership interest in bankrupt radio station owner Audacy Inc. by a fund manager with ties to George Soros.

  • September 30, 2024

    FTC Withdraws From Feds' Merger Review Labor Pact

    The Federal Trade Commission is withdrawing from an agreement signed in August with the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Department of Labor and the National Labor Relations Board that's meant to increase collaboration when looking at labor issues in mergers.

  • September 30, 2024

    AGs, Academics Back Media Giants In Sports Streaming Fight

    ESPN, Fox and Warner Bros. have picked up allies in their push to move ahead with a "sports-first" broadcasting service, with six state attorneys general and a host of respected economics professors urging the Second Circuit to undo a New York court order that blocked the service's launch.

  • September 30, 2024

    Schwab Nears Deal In Antitrust Suit Over TD Ameritrade Buy

    Charles Schwab Corp. has reached "an agreement in principle" with retail investors who filed a proposed class action alleging increased transaction costs for trades and other antitrust injury following the Schwab-TD Ameritrade merger, the parties told a Texas federal judge Friday.

  • September 30, 2024

    Medical Device Co. Wins $25M Verdict In Poaching Trial

    Medical device company Cynosure has won a $25 million jury award following a weekslong trial in Massachusetts federal court on its claims that a rival business raided its sales and marketing talent and caused the employees to breach their noncompete and nonsolicitation agreements.

  • September 30, 2024

    Chevron-Hess 2nd Oil Merger To Get FTC OK With CEO Ban

    A divided Federal Trade Commission signed off Monday on a deal allowing Chevron to buy Hess, permitting the $53 billion megamerger on the condition that Hess CEO John B. Hess be banned from Chevron's board, in the second such CEO-banning deal the FTC has inked in the last year.

  • September 30, 2024

    Epic Accuses Samsung Of Helping Google Block App Fix

    Epic Games filed a new federal lawsuit Monday against Google and Samsung, alleging the search giant and the phonemaker have teamed up "to preemptively undermine" a looming order forcing Google to permit competition with its Play Store.

  • September 30, 2024

    5 Firms Guide DirecTV, Dish On $10B Debt Exchange Merger

    DirecTV said Monday it has agreed to purchase EchoStar's video distribution business Dish DBS, including Dish TV and Sling TV, for a nominal $1 while absorbing nearly $10 billion worth of its debt, in a rare debt exchange-driven megadeal that is being led by at least five law firms. 

  • September 27, 2024

    Calif. Appeals Court Won't Revive Suit Targeting Zero Emission Reg

    A California appeals court has refused to jump-start a natural gas vehicle coalition's lawsuit targeting an Advanced Clean Trucks regulation aimed at boosting the sale of electric zero-emission medium- and heavy-duty vehicles, ruling state regulators properly considered alternatives and impacts.

  • September 27, 2024

    Apple, Visa And Mastercard Want Out Of 'Tap Pay' Fee Suit

    Apple, Visa and Mastercard on Thursday urged an Illinois federal court to toss several retailers' proposed antitrust class action accusing the three of conspiring to restrain competition in point-of-sale transaction payment networks, saying in separate motions that allegedly unlawful agreements they entered "expressly preserve" Apple's right to compete.

  • September 27, 2024

    Disney Wants FuboTV Tying Suit Tossed Before Trial

    Disney told a New York federal judge Thursday that FuboTV in its tying claims against the programming giant still hasn't shown how Disney's bundling practice is out of the ordinary, saying that similar bundles have existed for years and have been cleared by the courts and the Federal Communications Commision.

  • September 27, 2024

    RealPage Wants DOJ Antitrust Case Moved To Tennessee

    RealPage has asked a North Carolina federal court to transfer the government's antitrust case against it to Tennessee, where private litigation has been playing out over claims the software company helps residential landlords fix rental prices.

  • September 27, 2024

    NC Biz Court Trims Pot Farm Fight With 'Amazon Of Hemp'

    An online hemp retailer has narrowed a North Carolina farm's lawsuit alleging the retailer doctored its THC reports before listing the farm's products for sale online, with a state Business Court judge finding they aren't competitors and the farm otherwise failed to show the retailer tried to pass off the hemp producer's products as its own.

  • September 27, 2024

    Why Many Drugs Remain Pricey 40 Years After Hatch-Waxman

    In the four decades since Congress passed the Hatch-Waxman Act in an effort to make generic drugs more available, the pharmaceutical industry has used patent thickets, "evergreening" and pay-for-delay tactics to block competition and keep prices of life-saving specialty drugs astronomical, several legal experts told Law360, while the industry argues other parties shoulder more of the blame.

  • September 27, 2024

    Off The Bench: College Sports Dominates Legal Landscape

    In this week's Off The Bench, the NCAA and the athletes in the big name, image and likeness settlement try to redo the terms to satisfy the overseeing judge, Reggie Bush says his image has been exploited by his alma mater and the NCAA for years, and the Pac-12 claims that it's being strong-armed by a rival conference for coaxing away its teams.

  • September 27, 2024

    NY Court Won't Transfer DOJ's Live Nation Antitrust Case

    The New York federal judge overseeing the government's antitrust case against Live Nation said Friday he will not transfer the action to Washington, D.C., where a court handled a settlement clearing the concert promotion giant's 2010 purchase of Ticketmaster.

  • September 27, 2024

    Lawyer Wields Blank Rome Atty Voicemail To Bolster DQ Bid

    An attorney who is suing three lawyers from Blank Rome LLP and has asked a federal court to disqualify the firm's other attorneys from representing their colleagues — alleging they contacted one of her witnesses — told the court Friday she accessed a phone message that strengthens her arguments.

  • September 27, 2024

    Taxation With Representation: Kirkland, Skadden, Cleary

    In this week's Taxation With Representation, Blackstone and Vista Equity Partners acquire Smartsheet Inc., Macquarie Asset Management takes a stake in D.E. Shaw Renewables Investment Group, and Apogee Enterprises Inc. buys UW Interco LLC from Heartwood Partners.

  • September 27, 2024

    'No Question' Google Faces Ad Tech Competition, Judge Says

    The Virginia federal judge weighing the fate of Google's display advertising placement technology signaled potential trouble for the Justice Department on Friday, during a dramatic last day of the bench trial where she suggested the market is as competitive as the search giant maintains.

  • September 27, 2024

    UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

    This past week in London has seen Coca-Cola bring a trademark infringement claim against its former marketing director, Glencore face legal action by American Century ETF Trust, law firm Bishop Lloyd & Jackson defend itself against two solicitors it worked alongside during inquiries into Grenfell Tower, and a U.K. cruise line face a claim by a subsidiary of the sanctioned gambling platform GTLK.

  • September 27, 2024

    UK Drops Probe Into Amazon's $4B AI Investment

    The Competition and Markets Authority dropped its formal probe on Friday into Amazon's $4 billion investment in Anthropic, a U.S. artificial intelligence startup, after it found that the companies do not hit thresholds for investigation in Britain.

  • September 26, 2024

    NCAA, Athletes Make Tweaks To $2.78B NIL Settlement

    The National Collegiate Athletic Association and the athletes suing over the organization's name, image and likeness compensation rules on Thursday presented some clarifications to their proposed $2.78 billion antitrust settlement after a California federal judge took issue with some of the deal's terms.

  • September 26, 2024

    Google Lacks Power To Dictate Market, Ad Tech Judge Told

    Google's lead expert witness described an online advertising placement technology industry rife with competition Thursday, telling a Virginia federal judge that the U.S. Justice Department's monopolization allegations exclude key competitors from an improperly defined market.

  • September 26, 2024

    Sen. Warren Presses OCC, Fed For Tighter Leash On NYCB

    Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., demanded Wednesday that federal regulators slap New York Community Bancorp with a higher minimum capital requirement, calling out what she alleges has been lax oversight of the bank.

Expert Analysis

  • Considerations For Federal Right Of Publicity As AI Advances

    Author Photo

    Amid rapid advances in generative artificial intelligence technology, Congress should consider how a federal right of publicity would interact with the existing patchwork of state name, image and likeness laws, as well as other issues like scope, harm recognized and available relief, says Ross Bagley at Pryor Cashman.

  • FTC Focus: Private Equity Investments In Healthcare

    Author Photo

    As the Federal Trade Commission is tightening its scrutiny of private equity investment in healthcare, the agency is finding novel grounds to challenge key focus areas, including rollup acquisitions, the flip-and-strip approach and minority investments in rival providers, say attorneys at Proskauer.

  • Patent Lessons From 5 Federal Circuit Reversals In June

    Author Photo

    A look at June cases where the Federal Circuit reversed or vacated decisions by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board or a federal district court highlights a potential path for branded drugmakers to sue generic-drug makers for off-label uses, potential downsides of violating a pretrial order offering testimony, and more, say Denise De Mory and Li Guo at Bunsow De Mory.

  • Series

    Rock Climbing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

    Author Photo

    Rock climbing requires problem-solving, focus, risk management and resilience, skills that are also invaluable assets in my role as a finance lawyer, says Mei Zhang at Haynes and Boone.

  • How 5 States' Deal Notification Laws Are Guiding Healthcare

    Author Photo

    Healthcare transaction notification laws at various stages of implementation in California, Illinois, Indiana, Oregon and Washington are shaping sector mergers and acquisitions, with significant transparency, continuity of care and compliance implications as providers tackle complex regulatory requirements, says Melesa Freerks at DLA Piper.

  • Think Like A Lawyer: Dance The Legal Standard Two-Step

    Author Photo

    From rookie brief writers to Chief Justice John Roberts, lawyers should master the legal standard two-step — framing the governing standard at the outset, and clarifying why they meet that standard — which has benefits for both the drafter and reader, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.

  • Takeaways From Tossed Deal In Visa, Mastercard Class Action

    Author Photo

    Given the rejection of a proposed deal in the long-running merchant antitrust class action against Visa and Mastercard in New York federal court, sweetening the proposed settlement pot likely will not be an option, leaving few possible outcomes including splitting the class and allowing opt-outs, say attorneys at Davis Wright.

  • How Orange Book Antitrust Scrutiny Is Intensifying

    Author Photo

    Pharmaceutical patent holders should be reviewing Orange Book listing practices, as the Federal Trade Commission takes a more aggressive antitrust approach with actions such as the Teva listing probe, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration calls attention to potentially improper listings, say attorneys at McDermott.

  • Opinion

    OFAC Sanctions Deserve To Be Challenged Post-Chevron

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Supreme Court's Loper Bright decision opens the door to challenges against the Office of Foreign Assets Control's sanctions regime, the unintended consequences of which raise serious questions about the wisdom of what appears to be a scorched-earth approach, says Solomon Shinerock at Lewis Baach.

  • Behind The Delay Of Final HSR Premerger Filing Rules

    Author Photo

    Erin Toomey at Epiq discusses the wait for the final version of the revised Hart-Scott-Rodino premerger filing requirements that were first introduced in June 2023, the factors that might be behind the delay, and how to plan for the potential data-focused rule change

  • Opinion

    The FTC Needs To Challenge The Novo-Catalent Deal

    Author Photo

    Novo's acquisition of Catalent threatens to substantially lessen competition in the manufacturing and marketing of GLP-1 diabetes and obesity drugs, and the Federal Trade Commission should challenge it under a vertical theory of harm, as it aligns with last year's merger guidelines and the Fifth Circuit decision in Illumina, says attorney David Balto.

  • Series

    Being A Luthier Makes Me A Better Lawyer

    Author Photo

    When I’m not working as an appellate lawyer, I spend my spare time building guitars — a craft known as luthiery — which has helped to enhance the discipline, patience and resilience needed to write better briefs, says Rob Carty at Nichols Brar.

  • Series

    After Chevron: Uncertainty In Scope Of ITC Oversight

    Author Photo

    The U.S. International Trade Commission's long-standing jurisprudence on some of the most disputed and controversial issues is likely to be reshaped by the Federal Circuit, which is no longer bound by Chevron deference in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Loper Bright decision, say Kecia Reynolds and Madeleine Moss at Paul Hastings.

  • Lead Like 'Ted Lasso' By Embracing Cognitive Diversity

    Author Photo

    The Apple TV+ series “Ted Lasso” aptly illustrates how embracing cognitive diversity can be a winning strategy for teams, providing a useful lesson for law firms, which can benefit significantly from fresh, diverse perspectives and collaborative problem-solving, says Paul Manuele at PR Manuele Consulting.

  • Takeaways From EU's Initial Findings On Apple's App Store

    Author Photo

    A deep dive into the European Commission's recent preliminary findings that Apple's App Store rules are in breach of the Digital Markets Act reveal that enforcement of the EU's Big Tech law might go beyond the literal text of the regulation and more toward the spirit of compliance, say William Dolan and Pratik Agarwal at Rule Garza.

Want to publish in Law360?


Submit an idea

Have a news tip?


Contact us here
Can't find the article you're looking for? Click here to search the Competition archive.
Hello! I'm Law360's automated support bot.

How can I help you today?

For example, you can type:
  • I forgot my password
  • I took a free trial but didn't get a verification email
  • How do I sign up for a newsletter?
Ask a question!