JANUARY – MARCH 2021: HIGHLIGHTS -
UNITED STATES -
- As the United States rounds the corner toward getting the COVID-19 epidemic under control within its borders, the US antitrust enforcers have seen a major spike in...more
5/4/2021
/ Acquisitions ,
Competition ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
EU ,
European Merger Control Regulation ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Healthcare ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers ,
Premerger Notifications ,
Technology ,
UK
The US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit revived an antitrust suit alleging that a pharmaceutical manufacturer illegally maintained its monopoly for its innovator drug by precluding competition beyond the expiration...more
4/22/2021
/ Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Litigation ,
Appeals ,
Drug Pricing ,
Generic Drugs ,
Manufacturers ,
Monopolization ,
Patents ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Sherman Act ,
Statute of Limitations ,
The Clayton Act
OCTOBER - DECEMBER 2020 UPDATE -
UNITED STATES -
Despite initial obstacles because of the COVID-19 pandemic, 2020 rounded out to be the busiest year for mergers and acquisitions (M&A) enforcement in the United States...more
2/8/2021
/ Acquisitions ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Digital Markets Strategy ,
Enforcement Actions ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Investigations ,
Mergers ,
Premerger Notifications ,
Proposed Rules ,
UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA)
JULY - SEPTEMBER 2020 UPDATE -
UNITED STATES-
Mergers and acquisitions in the United States appear to be bouncing back after a muted start to the year due to COVID-19. Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) filings in Q3 2020 were up...more
10/26/2020
/ Acquisitions ,
Competition Authorities ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
EU ,
EU Merger Directive ,
European Commission ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Filing Requirements ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Mergers ,
Premerger Notifications ,
UK ,
UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA)
Generally, contact tracing refers to an effort by public health officials to identify individuals with whom a patient who has tested positive for an infectious disease has been in close proximity. Public health officials will...more
9/15/2020
/ Bluetooth ,
California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) ,
Contact Tracing ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Collection ,
Data Privacy ,
Data Protection ,
Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIAs) ,
Data Security ,
Employees ,
EU ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Information Governance ,
Mobile Apps ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Patient Privacy Rights ,
Patients ,
Personal Data ,
Private Sector ,
Public Health ,
Re-Opening Guidelines ,
UK Brexit ,
Whistleblowers
In the United States, despite requesting additional time to review pending mergers, the US antitrust agencies have continued their work through the COVID-19 pandemic. The Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Trade...more
9/3/2020
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Customers ,
Deadlines ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Investigations ,
Mergers ,
Remote Depositions ,
Remote Hearings ,
Settlement Agreements ,
UK ,
UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) ,
UK Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) ,
Videoconference
The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit vacated a district court decision that found Qualcomm’s patent licensing practices violate antitrust laws and reversed a permanent, worldwide injunction against several of...more
8/27/2020
/ Appeals ,
Certiorari ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FRAND ,
IP License ,
OEM ,
Patents ,
Permanent Injunctions ,
Reversal ,
Standard Essential Patents ,
Vacated
The US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit affirmed a grant of summary judgment dismissing antitrust and tortious interference claims based on fraudulent procurement of patents where the plaintiff failed to show a knowing...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit recently concluded in In re Lamictal Direct Purchaser Antitrust Litigation that a district court’s reliance on average prices to determine class-wide impact was insufficient....more
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit found that a district court abused its discretion in granting a preliminary injunction enjoining a patent holder from making claims of patent infringement without finding that...more
Today the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released joint guidance concerning competition for biologics, including biosimilars. The joint guidance seeks to enhance competition for...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit held that a counterclaim plaintiff was estopped from relitigating antitrust claims in a separate action where the prior judgment allegedly involved separate and alternative...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed an International Trade Commission (ITC) decision not to institute an investigation where the underlying statutory scheme precluded a private right of action. Amarin...more
At both the state and federal level, antitrust enforcement agencies continue to pursue successful challenges to physician practice transactions. This article summarizes two recent enforcement actions, as well as a new state...more
6/21/2019
/ Acquisitions ,
Acute Facilities ,
Anti-Competitive ,
Appeals ,
Blocked Mergers ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Consent Decrees ,
Consumer Protection Act ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Horizontal Merger Guidelines ,
Hospitals ,
New Legislation ,
Notification Requirements ,
Physicians ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Price-Fixing ,
Purchase Agreement ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Section 7 ,
Service Agreements ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Sherman Act ,
Size of Transaction Test ,
State Attorneys General ,
The Clayton Act
The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed a district court’s dismissal with prejudice where a lace textile manufacture pleaded that a popular fashion retailer and other defendants infringed on the manufacturer’s...more
Standard-essential patent holders and implementers may face uncertainty regarding licensing practices following a May 23 Texas court ruling. In the ruling, a Texas federal judge reached a conclusion different from a recent...more
6/4/2019
/ Declaratory Judgments ,
FRAND ,
FTC Act ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
IP License ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent Royalties ,
Patents ,
Qualcomm ,
Smartphones ,
Standard Essential Patents
Yesterday, a California federal judge ruled in favor of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in its suit against Qualcomm in a much-anticipated decision, concluding that Qualcomm violated the FTC Act by maintaining its monopoly...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit concluded that a firm’s ongoing representation of the opposing parties’ indirect subsidiary and affiliate in three patent infringement appeals created a concurrent conflict of...more
In considering an appeal in a patent and breach of contract case, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit explained that a district court’s damages ruling was not dispositive where it did not foreclose the plaintiff’s...more
The US Department of Justice (DOJ) recently sued former joint venture partners because they allegedly coordinated their competitive activities beyond the legitimate scope of their venture. This case illustrates several...more
On February 15, a Texas federal jury found that Ericsson did not breach its obligation to offer HTC licenses to its standard-essential patents (SEPs) on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms. The verdict ended...more
2/25/2019
/ Breach of Contract ,
Ericsson ,
FRAND ,
HTC ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
IP License ,
Jury Verdicts ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent Royalties ,
Patents ,
Royalties ,
Standard Essential Patents
The US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas ruled that for the purposes of honoring a fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) commitment, a pool member is not required to base royalties for its standard...more
Addressing personal jurisdiction for declaratory judgment actions, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit found that there was personal jurisdiction over the plaintiff, and that there is no generalized rule that...more
A federal district court in California granted partial summary judgment for the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and ordered a standard essential patent (SEP) holder to license its intellectual property for cellular...more
Recently, a federal district court in California granted partial summary judgment for the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in an important intellectual property and antitrust case involving standard essential patents (SEP)....more