Antitrust Law

Critics Fault DOJ for Monitoring Controversial Mergers Instead of Blocking Them

The Justice Department has added some limits to three recent high-profile mergers that will require years of monitoring by government lawyers. Critics say the department should be blocking the mergers rather than regulating them, according to a report by the Washington Post and Bloomberg. The three mergers that won approval—with…

Apr 25, 2011 11:00 AM CDT

Mattel Loses Latest Bratz Doll Trial, Owes MGA $88M, Possibly Trebled

A verdict has been reached by a federal jury in a copyright infringement case filed by Barbie manufacturer Mattel Inc. over MGA Entertainment’s popular Bratz dolls. In a major reversal of fortune for Mattel, which won a $100 million award in an earlier trial of the same case and had…

Apr 21, 2011 6:38 PM CDT

ABA Joins Law Firm’s Call for Top Court Review of Grand Jury Power to Get Lawyer-Client Info

The American Bar Association today filed an amicus brief (PDF) in support of White & Case’s request for a writ of certiorari from the U.S. Supreme Court. It seeks review of a federal appellate court’s rule that grand jury subpoenas trump protective orders even when confidential attorney-client information is sought…

Apr 20, 2011 11:05 PM CDT

Antitrust Complaint Filed Against Google in South Korea

South Korea’s biggest Internet providers, NHN and Daum Communications, filed an antitrust complaint against Google on Friday, alleging that it’s pushing down competition in the country’s domestic mobile search market by limiting their access to the Android smartphone operating system. The petition, according to the Financial Times, was filed in…

Apr 15, 2011 1:39 PM CDT

EU Fines Procter & Gamble for Laundry Detergent ‘Cartel’

The European Union on Wednesday announced it’s fining Procter & Gamble $305.1 million on charges that the Cincinnati-based Fortune 500 company conspired to fix laundry detergent prices in eight countries. Unilever, a British-Dutch company, was also fined $150.2 million by the EU, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer. The union claims…

Apr 13, 2011 7:45 PM CDT

Feds Probe Whether Blue Cross Blue Shield Provisions Stifle Competition

Federal officials are reportedly looking at Blue Cross Blue Shield health care plan provisions in half a dozen states, with a focus on whether they stifle competition by preventing hospitals from striking favorable deals with other insurers. Getting a particularly close look are so-called “most favored nation” provisions requiring health…

Mar 25, 2011 11:57 PM CDT

Federal Judge Nixes $125M Google Books Settlement That Would Have OK’d Digital Library

A federal judge in Manhattan has rejected a proposed $125 million class action settlement that would have allowed Google Inc. to avoid potential liability for creating a massive online digital library of out-of-print, copyrighted books by creating a registry to compensate authors, according to Reuters. The plan to immunize Google…

Mar 22, 2011 8:56 PM CDT

NFL and Union Hire High-Profile Lawyers, File Legal Actions with NLRB, Minnesota Court

The games move to the legal stage now that the National Football League has announced a lockout after labor negotiations failed to produce a new collective bargaining agreement. The NFL has hired two high-profile lawyers to join NFL outside litigation counsel Gregg Levy of Covington & Burling, according to the…

Mar 14, 2011 12:55 PM CDT

FTC Member Warns of Antitrust Concerns in Health Care Law, Seeks ‘Vigorous Enforcement’

A member of the Federal Trade Commission is raising concerns that the new health care law could reduce competition by allowing collaboration between hospitals and doctors. FTC member J. Thomas Rosch, an antitrust lawyer, says “vigorous antitrust enforcement” will be needed to preserve competition, the New York Times reports. He…

Feb 10, 2011 11:30 AM CST

Bratz Maker Files Antitrust Suit Claiming Mattel Had a ‘Litigate MGA to Death’ Strategy

Bratz doll maker MGA Entertainment has filed a new legal volley in the doll wars with a $3 billion antitrust lawsuit claiming Mattel, the Barbie doll company, engaged in anti-competitive practices with strategies to “kill Bratz” and “litigate MGA to death.” The suit was filed Thursday in Los Angeles federal…

Feb 4, 2011 1:00 PM CST

Latest Howrey News: Top Antitrust Partner Is Leaving, Salt Lake City Office to Close

After news earlier this week that two intellectual property partner groups had announced plans to exit Howrey during a single day, one including a rainmaker with a reputed $20 million book of business, comes word of more contractions there. A top antitrust partner is leaving the law firm’s Brussels and…

Jan 20, 2011 10:33 PM CST

Arent Fox Sends Report on BCS Exclusions to US Justice Department

Is the Bowl Championship Series unfairly excluding teams that don’t play in the right conferences in violation of the antitrust laws? A report by Arent Fox forwarded to the Justice Department this past week contends the answer is yes, reports Washington Post sports columnist Sally Jenkins. According to Jenkins, the…

Jan 12, 2011 12:56 PM CST

States Crack Down on Minimum Price Demands Following High Court Decision

Manufacturers that don’t allow their products to be sold at a discount won an antitrust suit in the U.S. Supreme Court more than three years ago, but they are facing losses in state legislatures. Several states have passed laws that beef up bans on price fixing, and several state attorneys…

Dec 22, 2010 5:24 PM CST

EU Launches Antitrust Probe Into Google’s Search Results

The European Union has begun an antitrust probe of Google’s treatment of competing services in its online search results. The European Commission will investigate whether Google gave preferential treatment to its own services and unfavorable treatment to competitors that offer services such as online price comparisons of retail goods, the…

Nov 30, 2010 12:16 PM CST

Google Sues Feds, Alleges Anti-Competitive Bid Specs for E-Mail Contract Proposal

Google Inc. has turned the tables on the feds, alleging that the U.S. Department of the Interior has illegally restricted competition among potential bidders for an e-mail contract by requiring that the system had to be included in the Microsoft Business Productivity Online Suite The specifications are “unduly restrictive of…

Nov 1, 2010 9:04 PM CDT