On April 23, 2024, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) voted 3-2 to ban the use of nearly all noncompete agreements in America’s for-profit businesses (with only a few narrow exceptions). The party-line vote comes after...more
4/25/2024
/ Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Exemptions ,
Federal Bans ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Final Rules ,
FTC Act ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Proposed Rules ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Unfair Competition
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in two related cases, Axon Enterprise Inc. v. FTC (No. 21-86) and SEC v. Cochran (No. 21-1239), that federal district courts have jurisdiction to hear structural constitutional challenges to the...more
4/24/2023
/ Administrative Agencies ,
Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Appeals ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Consumer Protection Laws ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FTC Act ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
Judge Lucy Koh of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California ruled for the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) last week in its antitrust enforcement action against Qualcomm, and issued an injunction that, if...more
5/31/2019
/ 5G Network ,
Anticompetitive Behavior ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FRAND ,
FTC Act ,
Injunctive Relief ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
IP License ,
Monopolization ,
Patent Royalties ,
Qualcomm ,
Semiconductors ,
Sherman Act ,
Standard Essential Patents ,
Telecommunications
The Federal Trade Commission filed suit last week in federal court against Qualcomm, Inc., following its investigation launched in September 2014. The FTC alleges that the semiconductor manufacturer illegally maintained a...more
1/25/2017
/ Antitrust Violations ,
Apple ,
Cell Phones ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Declaratory Relief ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FRAND ,
FTC Act ,
Licensing Rights ,
Mobile Devices ,
Patents ,
Popular ,
Putative Class Actions ,
Qualcomm ,
Retail Market ,
Royalties ,
Section 5 ,
Smartphones ,
Standard Essential Patents ,
Technology ,
Technology Sector ,
Unfair Competition ,
Wireless Devices ,
Wireless Technology
United States antitrust law seeks to encourage free and open competition by preventing exclusionary conduct that threatens the competitive process. Intellectual property rights (IPR) laws, by contrast, are designed to...more