Blog o’ Blogs May

The heated discussions and disagreements across jurisdictions have made for an interesting few weeks, with substantive decisions on both sides of the Atlantic shaking up long-held assumptions, setting up new paths for cooperation, but also for divergence in the way authorities deal with the ever-growing challenge of digital platforms, new pricing and business models, and changing assumptions on the role of regulators…

The First Blockchain Antitrust Case. Or Is It?
Legal professionals paying close attention to the still nascent world of blockchains and cyptocurrencies are following what is considered to be the first antitrust case involving cryptocurrencies….
Kristian Soltes (Constantine Cannon)

Is Amazon Guilty of Predatory Pricing?
In 2014, Benedict Evans, a venture capitalist at Andreessen Horowitz, wrote “Why Amazon Has No Profits (And Why It Works),” a blog post in which he tried to explain Amazon’s business model…
Stout & Stapp (Truth on the Market)

Illinois Brick Indirect Purchaser Rule No Bar to Monopolization Suit Brought by iPhone Users Against Apple over App Store Purchases
Last week, a divided U.S. Supreme Court allowed a monopolization suit filed by a class of iPhone owners to proceed against Apple…
Jody Coultas (Antitrust Connect)

AG Opinion in ICAP (relating to YIRD fining decision against ICAP as cartel facilitator)
Confidentiality, an inherent feature in commercial arbitration and a preferred one too, is of great importance to antitrust proceedings…
Chantal Lavoie (Lavoie Legal)

Record-Breaking Fines and Top Trends in Ukrainian Merger Control
While Ukraine has been making headlines over the past few months with the presidential elections, there have also been several notable news items on Ukrainian merger …
Anastasia Usova, Nataliya Kovalyova (Redcliffe Partners/Kluwer Competition)

Persistent myths in competition law (I): ‘the pro-competitive aspects of an agreement can only be considered under Article 101(3) TFEU’
EU competition law keeps busy a growing number of officials, practitioners and academics. It is fascinating that, with so many professional lives devoted to it, with so many specialised conferences and journals, there are still many myths that refuse to die…
Pablo Ibanez Colomo (Chilling Competition)

Evolving Antitrust Principles in the Age of Big Tech: Supreme Court Allows Antitrust Suit to Move Forward Against Apple
In a recent decision decided on May 13, 2019, the Supreme Court allowed an antitrust suit to move forward against Apple…
Meghan Larywon and Robert P. LoBue (Patterson Belknap)

Striking a Balance of Power between the Court of Justice and the EU Legislature: The Law on Competition Damages Actions as a Paradigm
The framework of EU law on cartel damages actions consists in part of rules established by the ECJ based on arts 101 and 102 TFEU...
Jens Uwe Franck (Econ Papers)

Whistling in the Wind? DOJ’s Unusual Statement of Interest in FTC v. Qualcomm Case Highlights Disparity Between U.S. Antitrust Agencies on FRAND, SEPs, & Competition Law
In a highly unusual move, the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division (DOJ) recently filed a statement of interest in the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)’s unfair competition case against Qualcomm…
Jay Jurata & Emily Luken (Orrick)

Can Experts Structure Markets? Don’t Count On It.
Our economy is not like a planetary orbit. It’s more like the weather or milk. No one knows which companies will become dominant, which products will become popular, or which industries will become defunct…
Corbin K. Barthold (Truth on the Market)

EU Judicial Review: Major Antitrust Implications of Recent State Aid Cases, Part 2 (Real Madrid, Case T-791/16)  
The General Court annulled yet another Commission State aid decision in the Real Madrid case. This is an important development for at least 3 reasons...
Alfonso Lamadrid (Chilling Competition)

Balancing competition and innovation in the drug industry: An evaluation of current
proposals.
The Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing, Intellectual Property and the Price of Prescription Drugs: Balancing Innovation and Competition, that explored whether changes to the pharmaceutical patent process could help lower drug prices…
Joanna Shepherd (Truth on the Market)

Noteworthy Comments by Makan Delrahim at the ABA Antitrust Section Conference in Buenos Aires
Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim gave a talk on Friday, May 10, 2019 at an ABA Antitrust Section of Law conference in Buenos Aires, Argentina…
Robert Connolly (Cartel Capers)

What is Great Legal Writing?
Great lawyers must write well. But what does that mean…?
Jarod Bona (The Antitrust Attorney)