Antitrust Lawyer Blog

On October 30, 2014, the Antitrust Division filed a complaint along with a proposed settlement agreement that allows Media General Inc.’s acquisition of LIN Media, LLC for $1.5 billion to be consummated, as long as the parties divest certain broadcast stations. Background Media General’s local broadcast stations and LIN’s stations in various designated marketing areas…

On October 2, 2014, the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division announced through a business review letter CyperPoint International, LLC’s cyber intelligence data-sharing platform known as TruSTAR, as proposed, does not raise antitrust concerns that would warrant a challenge. Background Earlier this year, the DOJ and the Federal Trade Commission issued a joint policy statement recognizing that…

On September 17, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing — “Why Net Neutrality Matters: Protecting Consumers and Competition Through Meaningful Open Internet Rules.”  The witnesses were: ·            Brad Burnham – Managing Partner, Union Square Ventures ·            Ruth Livier – Writer, Independent Producer, and Actress ·            Robert McDowell – Former Commissioner, Federal Communications Commission (FCC)…

On September 10, 2014, the House Judiciary Committee passed legislation to eliminate certain discrepancies between merger reviews conducted by the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice. The Standard Merger and Acquisition Reviews Through Equal Rules Act (SMARTER Act), H.R. 5402, introduced by Rep. Blake Farenthold (R-TX), would codify certain recommendations included in a 2007…

On September 8, 2014, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania alleging that several major pharmaceutical companies with entering into an anticompetitive agreement that effectively blocks U.S. consumers’ access to lower-cost versions of the blockbuster drug AndroGel. Background on Reverse Payment The agreement…

The Federal Trade Commission will host a workshop entitled “Fraud Affects Every Community” on Oct. 29, 2014, in Washington to examine how fraud affects groups including older adults, United States service members and veterans, low-income communities, and African-Americans, Latinos, Asians Americans, and Native Americans. According to the FTC, this workshop is intended to examine the…

On September 5, 2014, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) announced that it is retracting the proposed settlement agreement with Phoebe Putney Health System, Inc (“Phoebe”), for the extended antitrust litigation regarding its acquisition of its rival Palmyra Park Hospital (“Palmyra”) in Albany, Georgia. The FTC decided to retract its initial proposed settlement, which included no…

On September 5, 2014, following a public comment period, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) has approved a final order settling charges that Actavis plc (“Actavis”)’s acquisition of Forest Laboratories (“Forest”), Inc. would likely be anticompetitive. Under the proposed order, the two companies agreed to divest four drugs in order to preserve competition in those markets. On July…

In a September 4, 2014 speech, Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) Chairman Tom Wheeler expressed concerns about the lack of broadband competition in the United States. Chairman Wheeler explained that access to a 25 Mbps connection is becoming essential (or “table stakes”) to consumers with a majority of Americans having access to 100 Mbps or higher…

On September 3, 2014, the FCC announced it reached a settlement with Verizon for $7.4 million. The settlement ending an investigating into Verizon’s alleged misuse of customer information. The FCC’s Enforcement Bureau was investigating Verizon’s alleged failure to notify approximately two million new customers of their privacy rights.  Specifically, Verizon allegedly failed to provide to…