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2 months ago | 
pymnts.com | Amy Vegari
By: Amy N. Vegari & Kate Ross (Patterson Belknap)In this blog post, authors Amy N. Vegari & Kate Ross (Patterson Belknap) examine the Federal Trade Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division’s decision on Dec. 11 to withdraw the antitrust guidelines for competitor collaborations. Originally issued in April 2000, these guidelines provided an analytical framework for evaluating collaborative agreements between actual or potential competitors under Section 1 of the Sherman Act.
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Jan 3, 2025 | 
jdsupra.com | Amy Vegari
The Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice issued updated Guidance in November on the evaluation of corporate compliance programs in criminal antitrust investigations. The 2024 Compliance Guidance continues to demonstrate the DOJ’s commitment to rewarding efforts to cultivate a culture of compliance, including crediting effective compliance at the charging stage.
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Oct 6, 2023 | 
jdsupra.com | Amy Vegari
Last month, we discussed where things stand regarding Microsoft’s proposed $69 billion acquisition of Blizzard, Inc. (“Activision”) in light of domestic and international challenges to the proposed deal. This week, the closely-watched merger encountered another obstacle, as the FTC issued an order returning its challenge to administrative adjudication.
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Sep 18, 2023 | 
jdsupra.com | William F. Cavanaugh |Andrew Haddad |Amy Vegari
The Seventh Circuit recently revived an antitrust challenge to a clause in McDonald’s franchise agreements barring franchises from poaching other franchises’ employees. (See our previous coverage of antitrust challenges to no-poach agreements, reported on: Feb. 9th, 2022; May 2nd, 2022; Sept. 22nd, 2022; Nov. 29th, 2022; Feb.
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Sep 18, 2023 | 
jdsupra.com | Voratida Sangchant |Amy Vegari
Since the announcement of a proposed merger between Microsoft and Activision Blizzard, Inc. (“Activision”) in February 2022, enforcement agencies worldwide have adopted a spectrum of positions in response. The EU Commission and the South African Competition Tribunal both approved the merger, while the United Kingdom’s Competition and Markets Authority initially blocked the deal.
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Aug 30, 2023 | 
jdsupra.com | William F. Cavanaugh |kate ross |Amy Vegari
On July 13, 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit declined to block the $315 million purchase of Imperial Sugar Company (“Imperial”) by United States Sugar Corporation (“U.S. Sugar”), rejecting the Department of Justice’s (“DOJ”) claim that the merger would violate antitrust law and increase prices. See United States v. United States Sugar Corp., et al., No. 21-cv-1644, 2023 WL 4526605 (3d Cir. July 13, 2023).
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May 19, 2023 | 
jdsupra.com | William F. Cavanaugh |Andrew Haddad |Amy Vegari
Two labor-market criminal antitrust trials recently ended in acquittals, further demonstrating the challenges the United States has faced in this area (See our previous coverage of this prosecution trend, reported on: Feb. 9th, 2022; May 2nd, 2022; Sept. 22nd, 2022; Nov. 29th, 2022, and Feb. 14th, 2023). In United States v. Patel, a district judge granted the defendants’ motion for judgment of acquittal on charges of a no-poach agreement before the case went to the jury. And, in United States v.
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May 12, 2023 | 
jdsupra.com | Jacqueline Brandon |Amy Vegari
JetBlue Airways Corporation (“JetBlue”) is currently defending two antitrust lawsuits brought by the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) in the District of Massachusetts. In the first, which was filed in March, DOJ challenges JetBlue’s proposed acquisition of Spirit Airlines, Inc. (“Spirit”). JetBlue and Spirit filed Answers in that action this week. The second lawsuit, which went to trial in Fall 2022, questions JetBlue’s Northeast Alliance with American Airlines Group Inc. (“American”).
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May 11, 2023 | 
lexology.com | Amy Vegari |Jacqueline Brandon
JetBlue Airways Corporation (“JetBlue”) is currently defending two antitrust lawsuits brought by the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) in the District of Massachusetts. In the first, which was filed in March, DOJ challenges JetBlue’s proposed acquisition of Spirit Airlines, Inc. (“Spirit”). JetBlue and Spirit filed Answers in that action this week. The second lawsuit, which went to trial in Fall 2022, questions JetBlue’s Northeast Alliance with American Airlines Group Inc. (“American”).
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Apr 24, 2023 | 
jdsupra.com | William F. Cavanaugh |kate ross |Amy Vegari
Commissioner Alvaro M. Bedoya of the Federal Trade Commission recently addressed a key tension brewing in the consumer protection and antitrust spaces since the rise of the app-based gig economy: whether gig workers classified as independent contractors can organize and collectively bargain for better wages or hours without violating antitrust law. Speaking for himself and not the agency, Commissioner Bedoya answered the question in the affirmative.
