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Companies Mentioned
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- Watson Pharmaceuticals
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SF Health Plan Seeks Class Cert. In McKesson AWP Suit
Thursday, Jul 02, 2009
San Francisco city officials have asked the federal court overseeing their suit accusing McKesson Corp. of conspiring to inflate the average wholesale price of hundreds of drugs to certify a class of all governmental entities in California, including the state itself, that overpaid for the drugs.
Dropped Claims End Acrylic Glass Antitrust MDL
Thursday, Jul 02, 2009
A proposed class of indirect purchasers has withdrawn its claims in multidistrict litigation accusing Imperial Chemical Industries PLC and several other chemical companies of involvement in a conspiracy to fix and inflate the prices of methyl methacrylate and polymethyl methacrylate, bringing the litigation to a close.
2nd Circ. Revives Antitrust Suit Over Hospital Access
Thursday, Jul 02, 2009
A federal appeals court has vacated a lower court's ruling of summary judgment for a surgeon and his practice — defendants in an antitrust case over access to operating rooms at state-run Westchester Medical Center in New York — finding that they are not necessarily immune from unfair competition claims even though the hospital is.
€113M Fine Over Spanish Flax Subsidy Upheld
Thursday, Jul 02, 2009
A European court has upheld the findings of an investigation into irregularities in subsidies for Spanish flax production that led the European Commission to order the country to return more than €100 million ($140 million) paid to flax farmers.
Transcript Firm Files Antitrust Suit Against Rival
Thursday, Jul 02, 2009
Transcription provider Federal News Service Inc. has filed a lawsuit against Congressional Quarterly Inc., alleging that the company has conspired to monopolize the fast-turnaround transcript market and force its sole rival out of business, using tactics including corporate espionage and theft.
AT&T Challenges Order From Mich. Utility Commission
Thursday, Jul 02, 2009
A subsidiary of AT&T Inc. has filed a lawsuit seeking to stop the Michigan Public Service Commission from arbitrating a dispute with Sprint Nextel Corp. over the proposed extension of an interconnection agreement.
ThyssenKrupp Loses Appeal Of €3.17M Antitrust Fine
Wednesday, Jul 01, 2009
A unit of German steel giant ThyssenKrupp AG came up short Wednesday in its bid to overturn a €3.17 million ($4.5 million) antitrust fine issued years ago for its alleged role in a conspiracy to fix the price of stainless steel.
Q&A With Hunton & Williams' Hewitt Pate
Wednesday, Jul 01, 2009
The fact that the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission operate under different procedural rules but without any clear standards for deciding which agency gets which case is something of an embarrassment, says R. Hewitt Pate, head of Hunton & Williams LLP's global competition team.
EU Widens Probe Of Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines Deal
Wednesday, Jul 01, 2009
The European Commission has dealt a blow to Deutsche Lufthansa AG's plans to acquire Austrian Airlines AG, with the announcement that it intends to conduct an in-depth investigation into the proposed merger.
DOJ Marine Products Bid-Rigging Probe Hooks Exec
Wednesday, Jul 01, 2009
The CEO of a now-defunct marine products company is the latest executive to plead guilty to rigging bids for U.S. Department of Defense and other contracts, the U.S. Department of Justice has announced.
UK OFT Releases Merger Guidance
Wednesday, Jul 01, 2009
The U.K.'s Office of Fair Trading has published revised guidance detailing the procedures the regulator uses when it evaluates mergers for their competitive impact, and warns companies of the potential risks of not notifying the agency of a potential merger that could raise competition concerns.
Talks Ordered In Trucker Fleet Cards Feud
Wednesday, Jul 01, 2009
A federal judge has sent the parties to the table for settlement talks in a lawsuit by a group of independent truck stop owners who claim Ceridian Corp. and several major multistate truck stop chains conspired to monopolize the market for credit cards for truckers that provide special benefits to trucking companies.
Hunton Snags Competition Pro From Linklaters
Wednesday, Jul 01, 2009
As part of a strategy to expand its presence in the European market, Hunton & Williams LLP has added a new partner to its global competition practice who joins the firm's Brussels office from Linklaters LLP.
Erickson Air-Crane Faces Helicopter Antitrust Suit
Tuesday, Jun 30, 2009
Evergreen Helicopters Inc. has brought a suit against Erickson Air-Crane Inc. alleging that the rival has monopolized the market for parts to the Skycrane helicopter and is engaging in anti-competitive tactics to strengthen its hold on the market for heavy-lift helicopter services.
Plaintiffs Drop Antitrust Suit Over G-Fees
Tuesday, Jun 30, 2009
A proposed class of plaintiffs has dropped its lawsuit accusing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac of collaborating, instead of competing, when setting guarantee fees associated with backstopping against loan defaults.
Q&A With Duane Morris' Ed Biester
Tuesday, Jun 30, 2009
Continued incremental case-by-case evolution in antitrust law, spurred by the current trend of more aggressive enforcement, would lead to better results than attempts by Congress to rewrite antitrust laws, says Edward G. Biester III, co-chair of Duane Morris LLP’s antitrust & competition practice group.
Solvay, Unimed Hit With AndroGel Suit In Pa.
Tuesday, Jun 30, 2009
Safeway Inc. and Walgreen Co. have sued five drug companies — including Solvay Pharmaceuticals Inc. and its unit Unimed Pharmaceuticals LLC — over an alleged scheme to block generic competition for the drug AndroGel, marking another private suit over AndroGel in the wake of the Federal Trade Commission taking Solvay to court in January.
Antitrust Claims OK'd In Rembrandt Patent MDL
Tuesday, Jun 30, 2009
A federal magistrate judge has recommended that cable manufacturers be allowed to pursue antitrust and unfair competition claims against Rembrandt Technologies LP, which the manufacturers claim perpetrated a scheme to market versions of its patented technology solely to make a case for injunctive relief.
EU To Consider Concessions In Pfizer, Wyeth Review
Tuesday, Jun 30, 2009
The European Commission has extended the deadline for its review of Pfizer Inc.'s proposed $68 billion acquisition of Wyeth Inc. because Pfizer offered the regulator commitments related to the companies' animal health assets that could mitigate competition concerns.
Calif. High Court Rejects Transit Union's Breaks Suit
Tuesday, Jun 30, 2009
California's highest court has rejected a transit union's attempt to bring a meal and rest break suit under the state's unfair competition law on behalf of its members, ruling that only parties who have suffered injuries have standing to sue under the statute.
Reaching Beyond Title 15
While the number of “other criminal cases” being filed by the U.S. Department of Justice's Antitrust Division appears to be on the rise, one number has consistently stayed the same — the high percentage of “other criminal cases” won at trial, say Jeffrey S. Jacobovitz and Angela M. Bish of McCarthy Sweeney & Harkaway PC.
Debate Brews Over Obama Regulatory Reform Plan
The Obama administration's release of its financial regulatory plan sets the stage for a broad range of conflicts among and between many business interests, as well as federal and state regulators. It also signals the beginning of a long debate between well-entrenched constituencies, say Thomas Vartanian, David L. Ansell, Robert H. Ledig and Gordon Miller of Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson LLP.
Setting A Lower Patent Misuse Standard?
The latest Federal Circuit Princo decision reinforces the lessons of its earlier ones: Patent holders that contribute technology to patent pools should ensure the same patents are available for separate, individual licensing, say Kevin M. Bolan and Stefan M. Meisner of McDermott Will & Emery LLP.
Should Trustbusters Go Easy On Newspapers?
The potential demise of newspapers has led to calls for further relaxation of antitrust oversight of the industry, but blunting enforcement may harm consumers more than benefit them, while leading to more pleas from other industries for special treatment, says Katherine I. Funk of Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP.
Making The Most Of Rule Of Evidence 502
It is foreseeable that, if used strategically, the new Federal Rule of Evidence 502 should alleviate the burdens of costly electronic discovery and post-production privilege review and should ultimately reduce the billions of dollars spent each year in litigation to protect against the inadvertent disclosure of privileged materials, says Otilia Gabor of Miles & Stockbridge PC.
Rewards Would Help Leniency Plan, Cartel Reporting
To properly incentivize potential antitrust whistleblowers, affirmative incentives must outweigh the high risk of retaliation whistleblowers face. Legislation should be enacted to reward individuals for reporting unlawful cartel activity by providing them a percentage of any penalties or fines, say Daniel L. Low and Daniel A. Kotchen of Kotchen & Low LLP.
REACH: Key Competition Issues
The Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemical laws — the EU chemicals regime known as REACH — raises a range of competition issues that are coming to the fore now that registration activities are beginning in earnest, say Yves Botteman and Darren Abrahams of Steptoe & Johnson LLP.
The Latest FTC Clinical Integration Advisory
As the new administration articulates its position on how to balance the care and cost benefits of the clinical integration of independent health care providers with the potential for harm to competition from joint contracting, this confluence of health care policy and antitrust law only promises to get more interesting, say David W. Simon and Heather Holden Brooks of Foley & Lardner LLP.