Competition

March 24, 2025
'Powering' Algorithm Not Enough To Merit Price-Fixing Claim

A California federal judge gave short shrift Friday to consumers' proposed class action price-fixing allegations against software provider SAS Institute Inc., which allegedly created a shared pricing algorithm that Hilton, Hyatt and other major chains used to fix and raise room rates nationwide.
March 24, 2025
Foley & Lardner Expands State AG Practice With Cozen Trio

Three former state attorneys general who have been practicing from Cozen O'Connor's Washington, D.C., and Denver offices have moved to Foley & Lardner LLP to continue working on a range of matters related to state attorneys general investigations, the latter firm announced Monday.
March 24, 2025
Trump Asks High Court To Halt Fed. Workers' Reinstatement

The Trump administration asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday to pause a California federal court order reinstating tens of thousands of probationary federal workers who were fired from six agencies, arguing the band of nonprofit groups that obtained the order have no standing to challenge the firings.
March 31, 2025
Dentons Hires Competition Pro From Travers Smith

Dentons has brought on as partner a competition lawyer from Travers Smith LLP against a complex regulatory landscape that has increased demand for specialist advice.
March 24, 2025
Mastercard Seeks To Limit Swipe Fee Damages Bill

Mastercard urged a tribunal on Monday to limit the damages it must pay to intermediaries such as Worldpay over unlawful interchange fees, arguing that the acquirers' proposed damages bill is too broad and covers too long a period of time.
March 21, 2025
Attys Suing FIFA Say Humans, Not AI, Made Citation Errors

Attorneys accusing soccer's international governing body, its Puerto Rican affiliate and a regional soccer association of trying to block local rivals told a Puerto Rico federal judge Friday that it was simply human oversight — not the use of artificial intelligence — that led to citation inaccuracies in recent filings.
March 21, 2025
NHL, CHL Antitrust Suit May Require Plaintiff Line Change

A Washington federal judge on Friday asked the National Hockey League if a rule that dictates where junior athletes can play restricted the freedom of player movement, but the judge also questioned if the wrong players were plaintiffs in an antitrust suit because they were never drafted by the premiere professional league.
March 21, 2025
NJ, Pa. Claims Over Amazon Price Hike Project Cut For Good

Pennsylvania and New Jersey's attorneys general's efforts to shore up state law claims in the Federal Trade Commission monopolization lawsuit against Amazon.com failed after a Washington federal judge found nothing "unconscionable" about a project that matches rivals' price increases or deceptive about its concealment.
March 21, 2025
Judge Incredulous At Defense Raised In OpenAI TM Fight

A California federal judge doubted Friday certain defenses in OpenAI's trademark battle against a man who runs a website called "open.ai," telling the man's counsel repeatedly during a hearing it's "incredible" that he's claiming the court can't legally order him to transfer the domain if he doesn't own the mark.
March 21, 2025
Novartis Urges Court To Make FDA Block Entresto Generic

Novartis says the U.S. Food & Drug Administration has made a drug marketing exclusivity window "meaningless" and wants a D.C. federal judge to block a rival from selling a generic drug that would compete with its blockbuster heart medication Entresto.
March 21, 2025
Meta Defends Need For Current Data In FTC Case

Meta Platforms Inc. told a D.C. federal court the company should be able to use the most recent data it has during next month's trial in the Federal Trade Commission's case accusing the Facebook parent company of monopolizing personal social networking.
March 21, 2025
Consumer Group Doesn't Belong In FERC Fight, Court Told

An energy efficiency aggregator fighting a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission market manipulation case carrying a potential $1 billion price tag says a consumer advocate's concern over a constitutional challenge to the agency's structure can't justify its motion to intervene in the company's lawsuit.
March 21, 2025
Crocs Defends News Release In Bid To Beat Defamation Suit

Footwear maker Crocs Inc. told a Colorado federal judge Friday that a 2022 news release in which it said Crocs secured "a judgment of infringement" against a rival company was at least substantially true, contending that's enough to defeat the rival's summary judgment bid in a defamation suit.
March 21, 2025
Dems Call On Trump To Reinstate Axed FTC Commissioners

A pair of top House Democrats called on President Donald Trump on Friday to reinstate the fired Democratic commissioners of the Federal Trade Commission because their firing was a "clear violation of the law."
March 21, 2025
Unlockd To Take Google Antitrust Battle To 9th Circ.

Defunct advertising app maker Unlockd is hoping the Ninth Circuit will revive its antitrust suit accusing Google of allowing the then-up-and-coming business to build a reliance on Google platforms and then cutting it off once it became a threat.
March 21, 2025
Off The Bench: Celts Sold, Tennis 'Cartel,' DraftKings In Deep

In this week's Off The Bench, two BigLaw titans help steer the record sale of a prestigious NBA franchise, tennis pros heap damning antitrust allegations on the sport's leadership, and DraftKings remains mired in a dispute over its use of baseball players' likenesses to promote their gambling offers.
March 21, 2025
Wright Says Defamation Suit Did Not Violate Anti-SLAPP Law

Onetime Federal Trade Commission member and law professor Joshua Wright, who recently dropped a $108 million defamation suit against two attorneys who accused him of sexual misconduct, is now fighting a sanctions bid brought by one of the women, arguing it hinges on "selective — and largely misleading — presentation of evidence."
March 21, 2025
Football Player Hits NCAA With Latest Antitrust Eligibility Suit

The NCAA is facing yet another antitrust challenge to its eligibility rules, this time from a college football player who says the organization unfairly denied him a waiver that would have allowed him to play at Rutgers University next season.
March 21, 2025
Fed. Circ. Backs Actavis' $12M Patent Suit Cost Deduction

Drugmaker Actavis can take a $12 million tax deduction for money it spent fending off lawsuits while securing approval to sell generic birth control and other drugs, the Federal Circuit ruled Friday, affirming the U.S. Court of Federal Claims' decision that the costs were deductible as ordinary business expenses.
March 21, 2025
Sports Broadcasters Fined £4M Over Freelancer Pay Collusion

Four of the U.K.'s biggest sports production and broadcasting companies were fined more than £4 million ($5.2 million) for colluding on pay rates for freelance workers, the Competition and Markets Authority said Friday.
March 28, 2025
O'Melveny Rehires Antitrust Partner From Gibson Dunn

O'Melveny & Myers LLP has rehired Stephane Frank as a partner in its antitrust and competition group after he served a five-year stint at Gibson Dunn LLP, as the firm continues to attract what it describes as "boomerang laterals" back to its practice.
March 20, 2025
Nippon Calls Consumer Suit Over US Steel Merger 'Baseless'

Nippon Steel Corp. has urged a California federal court to throw out a consumer suit over its blocked $14.9 billion merger with U.S. Steel Corp., calling it yet another "in a long line of baseless lawsuits" over a merger of public companies that they have "no standing to challenge in the first place."
March 20, 2025
NJ Military Co. Says Ex-Director Took Trade Secrets To Rival

A New Jersey company that produces lubricants for military artillery sued a former employee Wednesday, claiming he took the company's proprietary information and set up a rival company making a nearly identical product.
March 20, 2025
Judge Won't Let Meijer Appeal Takeda's Arbitration Mandate

A Massachusetts federal judge refused Thursday to let Meijer immediately appeal his order letting Takeda Pharmaceutical force the grocery chain into arbitration and out of its role as a representative of a proposed class of direct purchasers suing over delayed generics to a constipation drug.
March 20, 2025
8th Circ. Won't Pause FTC's Insulin Pricing Case

The Eighth Circuit refused Thursday to pause the Federal Trade Commission's in-house case accusing Caremark Rx, Express Scripts and OptumRx of artificially inflating insulin prices while the pharmacy benefit managers challenge the constitutionality of the proceedings.

Expert Analysis

What To Expect In Higher Ed Enforcement Under Trump

Colleges and universities should prepare for shifting priorities, as President-elect Donald Trump is likely to focus less on antitrust cases and more on foreign relations policy, while congressional oversight of higher education continues to increase, say attorneys at Steptoe.
Series

NY Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q4

In 2024's final quarter, the New York State Department of Financial Services published guidance on mitigating the rising cybersecurity risks of artificial intelligence and remote technology workers with North Korean ties, and the state attorney general launched an antitrust investigation into Capital One's proposed Discover merger, say attorneys at Haynes Boone.
Series

Exercising On My Peloton Bike Makes Me A Better Lawyer

While I originally came to the Peloton bike for exercise, one cycling instructor’s teachings have come to serve as a road map for practicing law thoughtfully and mindfully, which has opened opportunities for growth and change in my career, says Andrea Kirshenbaum at Littler.
3 Factors Affecting Retail M&A Deals In 2025

Retailers considering mergers and acquisitions this year face an evolving antitrust environment, including a new administration under President-elect Donald Trump, revised merger guidelines and a precedent set last year by a canceled $8.5 billion handbag merger, say attorneys at DLA Piper.
FTC Picks Augur Pro-Business Bent For Much Of Economy

President-elect Donald Trump's choice of two top Federal Trade Commission officials suggests a business-friendly climate for a significant portion of the U.S. economy, with noteworthy exceptions of continued scrutiny of healthcare and Big Tech companies, excluding artificial intelligence, say attorneys at BCLP.
Top 10 Legal Issues This Year For Transportation Industry GCs

General counsel must carefully consider numerous legal and policy challenges facing the automotive and transportation industry in the year to come, especially while navigating new technologies, regulations and global markets, says Francesco Liberatore at Squire Patton.
Exploring Venue Strategy For Trump-Era Regulatory Litigation

Litigation will likely play a prominent role in shaping policy outcomes during the second Trump administration, and stakeholders have several tools at their disposal to steer regulatory litigation toward more favorable venues, say attorneys at Covington.
What 2024's Noncompete Turmoil Means For Banks In 2025

A look back at the most significant legal challenges to the enforceability of various restrictive covenants like noncompete and nonsolicitation agreements in 2024 can help financial institutions address the use of these critical tools this year, say attorneys at Maynard Nexsen.
Searching For Insight On Requested Google Chrome Remedy

The potential for Google to divest its Chrome browser — a remedy requested by the Justice Department following a D.C. federal court’s finding the company is a monopolist — has drawn both criticism and endorsement, but legal precedent likely supports the former, say attorneys at Ballard Spahr.
Opinion

3 New Year's Resolutions For Antitrust Agencies To Consider

James Fredricks at Skadden rings in 2025 with his wish list for the federal antitrust agencies, starting with a provision for a presumptive safe harbor for information sharing.
FTC Focus: A Changing Of The Guard

While rigorous antitrust enforcement is unlikely to slow down at the Federal Trade Commission, the focus will undoubtedly change, including when it comes to Big Tech, as Andrew Ferguson prepares to take the reins from Chair Lina Khan, say attorneys at Proskauer.
Series

Playing Esports Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Competing in a global esports tournament at Wimbledon last year not only fulfilled my childhood dream, but also sharpened skills that are essential to my day job, including strategic thinking, confidence and networking, says AJ Schuyler at Jackson Lewis.
An Associate's Guide To Career Development In 2025

As the new year begins, associates at all levels should consider establishing career metrics, fostering key relationships and employing other specific strategies to help move through the complexities of the legal profession with confidence and emerge as trailblazers, say EJ Stern and Amanda George at Fractional Law Firm.
5 Antitrust Issues For In-House Counsel In 2025

Attorneys at Squire Patton evaluate the top areas where U.S. antitrust policy is likely to change in the next 12 months, including major challenges to the Federal Trade Commission's authority that could reshape enforcement.
Reviewing 2024's Crucial Patent Law Developments

As 2024 draws to a close, significant rulings and policies aimed at modernizing long-standing legal practices or addressing emerging challenges have reached patent law, says Michael Ellenberger at Rothwell Figg.