Antitrust Lawyer Blog

On February 18, 2014, U.S. District Judge Jane J. Boyle granted a motion by U.S. hotel chains and online travel agencies to dismiss without prejudice an antitrust case alleging consumers paid inflated prices on hotel rooms booked online. Judge Boyle believed there to be two main arguments from the plaintiffs:  first, defendants conspired to restrain competition in…

On February 19, 2014, Taiwan’s Fair Trade Commission (“TFTC”) conditionally cleared Microsoft’s proposed acquisition of Nokia. The TFTC believed that no obvious impact on the structure of the market will result due to the deal, except for potential incentives to increase patent licensing royalty fees. As a result, the TFTC laid down two conditions before…

On February 19, 2014, the Chinese National Development and Reform Commission (“NDRC”), the country’s top economic planning body, launched  an initial probe into the auto parts industry. Responding to a reporter’s question, Mr. Kunlin Xu, the director genera of the NRDC’s Price Supervision and Anti-Monopoly Bureau said that there has yet been a formal investigation,…

On February 18, 2014, Germany’s competition authority, the Bundeskartellamt (BKartA) fined three sugar producers,  Pfeifer & Langen GmbH & Co. KG Südzucker AG, and Nordzucker AG a total of €280 million over their role in a sugar cartel that fixed sugar prices, production volumes, quotas, and sales areas. According to BKartA’s investigations, the companies have colluded…

On February 18, 2014, the American Antitrust Institute (“AAI”), together with the Food & Water Watch reiterated calls for the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) to block the planned merger of the milling activities of ConAgra-Cargill, CHS and Horizon Milling into a new joint-venture called Ardent Mills.  According to the complainants, the merger would effectively concentrate…

On February 15, 2014, the spokesperson of the Chinese Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) Danyang Shen, in a recent MOFCOM press conference, said the U.S. government is “irresponsible” to list China and Chinese companies on the “Notorious Market” list issued unilaterally by the United States Trade Representative (USTR). According to Mr. Shen, the inclusions is especially…

On Feb. 13th, 2014, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) unveiled its long-awaited Interim Rule on Applicable Standards for Simple Merger Review Cases. While many interested groups hailed this development as a positive step taken by the MOFCOM towards a comprehensive “fast-track” review procedure for simple cases which exists in the U.S. and in the…

On February 13, 2014, the heads of the antitrust agencies of the U.S, Canada and Mexico—Chairwoman Edith Ramire of the FTC, Assistant Attorney General Bill Baer of the DOJ’s Aititrust Division, Canadian Commissioner of Competition John Pecman, and President Alejandra Palacios Prieto of the Mexican Federal Competition Commission—met in Washington, D.C. to discuss mutual efforts…

On February 10, 2014, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in New York dealt a blow to Apple in its efforts to have a court-appointed monitor removed from his position.  The Second Circuit ruled that lawyer Michael Bromwich can continue to oversee the company’s antitrust compliance. While Apple wanted to remove the monitor altogether for…