Changes in the economy, technology, international business, and data collection have all converged to make the FTC rethink its enforcement priorities going forward. In the spirit of the 1995 Pitofsky Hearings, the FTC on September 13, 2018 kicked off the first day of hearings on Competition and Consumer Protection in…
On Friday, September 14th, a Congressional briefing was held regarding the renegotiation of NAFTA and how certain changes under discussion could end up undermining the President’s Blueprint to lower drug prices in the United States by extending pharma monopolies. One of the provisions under discussion would increase brand-name drug exclusivity.…
On August 10, 2018, the Eastern District of Pennsylvania denied J&J’s motion to dismiss Pfizer’s antitrust action involving infliximab products. Background on Pfizer/J&J In September 2017, Pfizer filed an antitrust lawsuit under Sections 1 and 2 of Sherman Act alleging J&J engaged in exclusionary anticompetitive practices to keep Pfizer out…
On August 7, 2018, the FTC’s Bureau of Competition announced a new new Model Timing Agreement for its merger reviews. This is part of its initiatives to streamline its merger review process. New FTC Model Timing Agreement Merger investigations typically involve timing agreements, which provide an agreed-upon framework for the…
On August 2, 2018, the DOJ’s Antitrust Division announced that it would begin a review of legacy consent decrees “regulat[ing] how certain movie studios distribute films to movie theatres.” The Paramount Consent Decrees have been in place for almost 70 years. U.S. v. Paramount, 334 U.S. 131 (1948). The Supreme…
On June 27, 2108, the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division announced that The Walt Disney Company (“Disney”) agreed to divest 22 regional sports networks (“RSNs”) to resolve antitrust concerns with its approximately $71 billion acquisition of certain assets from Twenty First Century Fox (“21CF”). Speedy Antitrust Approval DOJ’s announcement of…
On July 6, 2018, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) announced procedures for requesting product exclusions from the 25% tariff imposed on certain Chinese goods under Section 301. The announcement of exclusion procedures coincided with the imposition of the first phase of tariffs on July 6, 2018 covering…
On June 20, 2018, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) announced that it will hold a series of public hearings on whether broad-based changes in the economy, evolving business practices, new technologies, or international developments might require adjustments to competition and consumer protection enforcement law, enforcement priorities, and policy. The multi-day,…
On March 15, 2018, the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division filed a modified proposed final judgment (“MPFJ”) and responded to amici briefs filed in the Antitrust Procedures and Penalties Act (“Tunney Act”) proceedings regarding the DOJ’s settlement agreement that allowed Anheuser Busch InBev SA/NV’s (“ABI”) to acquire SABMiller. In other…
On June 18, 2018, T-Mobile and Sprint filed initial papers with the FCC. The parties made a number of arguments on why their deal should pass regulatory muster. First, T-Mobile and Sprint argue that they need the deal to compete with the Big Two (AT&T and Verizon) – the combined…