Antitrust Lawyer Blog

The FTC announced on April 19 it joined its foreign partners in calling for stepped up cross-border law enforcement cooperation and increased public/private sector cooperation to combat spam. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (“OECD”) issued recommendations in this area on the same day. To date, the FTC already implemented many of the OECD…

On April 18, two companies and their owner, who were charged with selling bogus bartender and mystery shopper certification programs, were banned for life from telemarketing. The owner also will pay $115,000 and turn over his Porsche convertible to settle the Commission’s charges. The owner, Stevan P. Todorovic, is a repeat-offender who also is under…

On April 14, the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division (“Antitrust Division”) announced a $1.8 million civil settlement against merger partners Qualcomm and Flarion Technologies alleging “gun-jumping” violations of the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 (“HSR Act”). The action underscores the Antitrust Division’s resolve to vigorously scrutinize the conduct of merging parties prior to consummation of…

On April 11, 2006, a federal grand jury returned indictments charging MA-RI-AL Corporation, which does business as Beaver Materials Corp., Chris A. Beaver, Ricky J. Beaver and John J. Blatzheim for their roles in the ready mixed concrete price-fixing conspiracy. The individuals were also indicted on charges that they knowingly made false statements to federal…

On March 30th, Fresenius AG agreed to sell 91 outpatient kidney dialysis clinics and financial interests in 12 more to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that Fresenius’ purchase of rival dialysis provider Renal Care Group, Inc. would violate federal antitrust laws. When the deal is finalized, Fresenius will be the largest provider of outpatient dialysis…

On March 29th, the Federal Trade Commission announced its intention to conduct a study of the use, and likely short- and long-term competitive effects, of authorized generics in the prescription drug marketplace. An authorized generic is chemically identical to a particular brand-name drug, but the brand-name manufacturer authorizes it to be marketed in a generic…

On March 28th, Federal Trade Commission Chairman Deborah Platt Majoras announced the appointments of two new deputy directors of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition. Kenneth L. Glazer joins the agency from The Coca-Cola Company, and David P. Wales, Jr. from Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP’s Washington office.

On March 27th, the Federal Trade Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice jointly released a “Commentary on the Horizontal Merger Guidelines” that continues the agencies’ ongoing efforts to increase the transparency of their decision-making processes – in this case, with regard to federal antitrust review of “horizontal” mergers between competing firms. The analytical framework…

On March 27th, Federal Trade Commission Chairman Deborah Platt Majoras kicked off an International Competition Network workshop to discuss the implementation of the ICN’s recommended practices for merger notification and review. These standards are designed to make the process for reviewing mergers more effective and efficient for both the merging parties and the sometimes multiple…

The staff of the FTC stated on March 18 in an advisory opinion letter that the proposed plan by a physician-hospital organization that would involve collective bargaining with insurers over doctor fees likely would violate federal antitrust laws. The staff concluded that the price and other competitive restraints proposed by the network were not reasonably…