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FTC Settles Antitrust Suit With Police Body-Cam Maker

By  |  April 19, 2020

Safariland, which manufactures and sells equipment for the law-enforcement, military, and recreational markets, has agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission (FTC) allegations that it entered several anticompetitive non-compete and customer non-solicitation agreements with body-worn camera system seller Axon. Safariland entered into these agreements when Axon acquired Safariland’s VieVu body-worn camera division.

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    The FTC issued an administrative complaint against Axon and Safariland on January 3, 2020, challenging the acquisition and the non-compete and non-solicitation agreements. Since the complaint was issued, Safariland and Axon rescinded the non-compete and non-solicitation provisions that the complaint alleged were anticompetitive. 

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    The proposed order, which settles all charges against Safariland, ensures that Axon and Safariland do not enter into new agreements with similar anticompetitive provisions.

    According to the complaint, the agreements barred Safariland from competing with Axon now and in the future on all of Axon’s products, limited solicitation of customers and employees by either company, and stifled potential innovation or expansion by Safariland. These restraints, some of which were intended to last more than a decade, substantially lessened actual and potential competition and were not reasonably limited to protect a legitimate business interest, according to the complaint.

    Under the proposed order, Safariland is required to obtain approval from the Commission before entering into any agreement with Axon that restricts competition between the two companies.

    Full Content: FTC

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