Archives: ABC’s of Antitrust

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Part Two: Has Amazon.com® become an….. amazon? Taking a bite out of Apple

By Darcy Jalandoni on July 31, 2015

Our second segment of this three- part series adds some background to the publishing landscape, and through the antitrust saga involving Apple and the largest publishing companies, explores how the evolution of ebooks has impacted not only consumer habits, but the publishing industry as a whole. Check out Part One of this series here. The … Continue Reading

Knockout blow by UFC fighters?

By Porter Wright on July 21, 2015

In Le v. Zuffa, LLC , 11 professional mixed martial arts fighters are pursuing antitrust claims in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada against Zuffa, LLC, who operates the popular professional mixed martial arts league known as the Ultimate Fighting Championship, or UFC. Brought as a class action, plaintiffs seek monetary damages … Continue Reading

The U.S. Supreme Court Declines to Consider Two Appeals Addressing the Foreign Reach of U.S. Antitrust Laws

By Porter Wright on June 18, 2015

In 1982, Congress enacted the Foreign Trade Antitrust Improvements Act (FTAIA) because it believed that, in the interests of international comity, U.S. antitrust jurisdiction over international commerce should be limited to conduct that affects the U.S. domestic market. The effect of the FTAIA was to insert a new section into the federal antitrust statutes, 15 … Continue Reading

LegalZoom Kicks Off Antitrust Battle Against State Bar Associations

By Jared Klaus and Allen Carter on June 9, 2015

State bar associations and other licensing boards were left like bleeding seals in shark-infested waters following the United States Supreme Court’s landmark decision this February in North Carolina State Board of Dental Examiners v. Federal Trade Commission, 135 S. Ct. 1101. The decision held that a state agency controlled by active participants in the market … Continue Reading

Antitrust Probe of Movie Theater Chains Enters Next Act

By Jared Klaus and Jay L. Levine on June 3, 2015

The U.S. Department of Justice has turned its spotlight on AMC Entertainment, Inc. in the government’s antitrust probe of the nation’s movie theater industry. In an 8-K filed Monday with the Securities and Exchange Commission, AMC announced that it has received a civil subpoena from the DOJ seeking information and documents relating to AMC’s involvement … Continue Reading

Judge finds anti-steering rules to be anti-competitive

By Darcy Jalandoni on February 25, 2015

Last Thursday, a federal district court judge found that American Express Co.’s anti-steering rules violated U.S. antitrust laws by barring merchants from encouraging customers to use other credit cards. The ruling not only handed a victory to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the 17 state attorneys general bringing the suit, but may also, … Continue Reading

Class action suits challenge Capper-Volstead

By Porter Wright on February 19, 2015

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

FTC revises HSR and interlocking directorate thresholds

By Jay L. Levine on January 21, 2015

Last week, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced the annual changes to the notification thresholds for filings under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act (HSR), as well as certain other values under the HSR rules. As background, the HSR Act requires that acquisitions of voting securities or assets that exceed certain thresholds be disclosed to U.S. … Continue Reading

HSR: Listen to the statute and…wait!

By Jay L. Levine and Porter Wright on November 24, 2014

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

Mergers 101 – So you have a deal, now what?

By Jay L. Levine and Porter Wright on September 23, 2014

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

Part Three: Section two of The Sherman Act – unilateral conduct (cont’d)

By Jay L. Levine on September 5, 2014

Rounding out our discussion on the Sherman Act, host Jay Levine discusses how businesses enter into contracts utilizing specific tactics to ensure they stay competitive and under what circumstances those tactics become problematic. Learn how most favored nation and non-discrimination clauses, as well as market share discounts and exchanging non-price information can be used to … Continue Reading

Can being ‘ethical’ land you in hot water with the Federal Trade Commission?

By Jared Klaus on August 25, 2014

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

Merging? Making an acquisition? Be careful out there

By Jay L. Levine and Porter Wright on August 25, 2014

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

Part Two: Section two of The Sherman Act – Non-price predation

By Jay L. Levine on August 8, 2014

test excerpt… Continue Reading

Part One: Section two of The Sherman Act – Unilateral conduct

By Jay L. Levine on July 20, 2014

In this podcast, Jay Levine continues his discussion of the Sherman Act, focusing now on unilateral conduct. Jay talks through some of the details specific to Section Two of the Act. What is monopolization, what is considered an attempt of monopolization and what types of conduct should your business avoid so you can stay aggressively competitive … Continue Reading

Part Two: Section one of The Sherman Act – Vertical restraints

By Jay L. Levine on July 2, 2014

Dealing with suppliers or customers….are there any concerns? Can agreements with suppliers or customers, as opposed to those with competitors, ever run afoul of the Sherman Act? In this podcast, Jay Levine answers that question and provides a brief outline of the Sherman Act’s applicability to “vertical restraints.”… Continue Reading

Part One: Section one of The Sherman Act – Horizontal restraints

By Jay L. Levine on May 22, 2014

Dealing with competitors… do you know the rules? If your company works collaboratively with competitors, such as exchanging information, agreeing on standards or engaging in a joint venture, you are subject to the parameters of the Sherman Act. In this podcast, Jay Levine provides an overview of the Sherman Act and the types of conduct … Continue Reading

Putting together a crisis plan

By Jay L. Levine on May 7, 2014

Antitrust cases, especially criminal ones, can bring pretty significant media coverage. Often, getting your message out quickly and in the right way can make all the difference. Colleen Marshall, Porter Wright senior attorney and co-anchor of NBC 4 Columbus’s evening news, joins Jay Levine for an in depth discussion on handling a crisis in the … Continue Reading

Basics of antitrust

By Jay L. Levine on April 24, 2014

In this podcast host Jay Levine of Porter Wright’s Washington D.C. office provides an overview of the antitrust laws. Jay covers the impact of what different types of conduct can have on a given market, both positively and negatively, as well as how to evaluate whether there are antitrust concerns.… Continue Reading