The Capper-Volstead Act is a powerful 1922 law that allows farmers and their cooperatives to act together for “collectively processing, preparing for market, handling, and marketing in interstate and foreign commerce.” Marketing as it is referred to here, includes price-setting and other conduct that would otherwise violate antitrust laws if not for Capper-Volstead. In my … Continue Reading
How can retailers and product designers minimize their liability exposure to “Made in the USA” false-labeling claims without sacrificing the valuable label itself? In part two of the “Made in the USA” podcast series, Jay Levine, Jared Klaus and Bob Tannous discuss how mitigating risk from such claims requires a holistic approach, including such strategies … Continue Reading
A slew of recent class actions brought in California are claiming that retailers and product designers acted deceptively by marketing their products as “Made in the USA.” But, as discussed in this podcast, the issue is far from black and white. For instance, can a pair of jeans assembled in the USA from domestically produced … Continue Reading
Following the expiration of a public comment period last week, the ink is now dry on the Federal Trade Commission’s consent decree against Made in USA Brand, LLC, settling charges that the Columbus, Ohio-based company sold its “Made in USA” certification label to product-sellers without making any attempt to verify whether the companies’ products were … Continue Reading
As we have explained in the past, parties to a merger or acquisition must report the transaction to federal antitrust authorities – the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) – provided the parties and the transaction exceed certain thresholds. The statute that governs that reporting obligation, Section … Continue Reading
This podcast offers a brief introduction into the world of the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvement Act of 1976, more commonly referred to as the HSR Act. Two members of the Porter Wright Antitrust group, Jay Levine and Jetta Sandin, provide listeners with an overview of the history of the Act, the criteria that could make a … Continue Reading
If it’s written in your organization’s “code of ethics,” it’s ok, right? In a recent post I shared on the DRI blog, two FTC settlements hinged on a review of organizational codes of ethics to determine that very question. The FTC brought administrative actions against two national associations – the National Association of Residential Property Managers (NARPM) and … Continue Reading
Editor’s note: this post also appears on FedSecLaw.com Almost 40 years ago, Congress passed the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 (the “HSR Act”). The HSR Act provided a mechanism pursuant to which partied to an acquisition of assets or voting securities would be required, if certain thresholds were met, to file a notification form with … Continue Reading
