Antitrust Lawyer Blog

On May 8, the DOJ and the FTC issued a joint report, “Competition in the Real Estate Brokerage Industry,” to inform consumers and others involved in the industry about important competition issues involving residential real estate, including the impact of the Internet, the competitive structure of the real estate brokerage industry, and obstacles to a…

On May 8, the FTC banned a scammer from telemarketing and from selling any type of business program in the future. Richard C. Neiswonger, who boasted that consumers could earn a six-figure income if they purchased and used his $10,000 asset protection service business program, had previously been previously charged with falsely claiming that consumers…

On May 4, after an investigation, the Antitrust Division determined that Smithfield’s proposed acquisition of Premium Standard Farms was not likely to harm competition, consumers or farmers. The Division’s investigation of the merger of these pork packers and processors focused on fresh and processed pork, the purchase of hogs from farmers, and the purchase of…

On May 2, FTC Commissioner Jon Leibowitz testified on behalf of the FTC before the U.S. House Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection of the Committee on Energy and Commerce regarding anticompetitive patent settlements in the U.S. pharmaceutical industry. Leibowitz alleged that recent court cases have made it more difficult to bring antitrust cases…

On May 2, the DOJ filed an amended complaint in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., naming Rinker Group Limited as a defendant in the DOJ antitrust lawsuit against Cemex S.A.B. de C.V because the Rinker Board of Directors approved Cemex’s cash tender offer for Rinker.Cemex and Rinker were required to preserve the assets to…

On April 27, the FTC settled charges against two companies for unfair and deceptive rebate practices. The FTC’s complaint against Soyo, Inc., a Nevada corporation, alleges that most of Soyo’s rebates were delivered late – in some cases, consumers had to wait a year or longer for their checks to arrive. The FTC’s complaint against…

On April 24, the FTC mailed out an additional 1,500 claim forms for reimbursement to consumers who may have been victims of identity theft due to alleged security lapses at data broker ChoicePoint, Inc. In December, 2006, the FTC mailed claim forms to 1,400 consumers.In 2005, ChoicePoint, which compiles and sells personal information, announced that…

On April 18, the DOJ reached a settlement with Chicago-based Amsted Industries Incorporated in order to remedy harm to competition arising from its December 2005 acquisition of FM Industries (“FMI”). Before the acquisition could be approved Amstead had to divest certain assets. FMI formerly was a wholly owned subsidiary of Progress Rail Services Holding Corporation.…

On April 17, Thomas O. Barnett, Assistant Attorney General for the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division, announced that Deborah A. Garza will serve as the Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Regulatory Matters. Ms. Garza will oversee transportation, energy, agriculture, telecommunications and other regulatory matters for the Division. Most recently, Ms. Garza chaired the Antitrust Modernization…

On April 17, the DOJ and the FTC issued a joint report, “Antitrust Enforcement and Intellectual Property Rights: Promoting Innovation and Competition,” to inform consumers, businesses, and intellectual property rights holders about the agencies’ competition views with respect to a wide range of activities involving intellectual property.The report discusses issues including: refusals to license patents,…