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Blog o’ Blogs May

By  |  August 15, 2017

Easter season finds the Antitrust community walking egg shells, with uncertainty (and some palpable effects) over the looming upheaval to Europe’s Status Quo. Across the Atlantic some decisions continue to confound predictions, while developments in ‘new’ Asian and European jurisdictions come under greater scrutiny by their global peers. Thankfully, new resources and insightful think-pieces are at hand to help make sense of it all before the flurry of activity that is sure to come.

With her delivery of the UK’s Article 50 notice on March 29, Theresa May has launched the two-year negotiating process leading to the first exit of a Member State from the European Union (EU).
Jay Modrall (Kluwer Competition Blog)
California Federal Court Rejects Class Certification in Lithium Ion Batteries Antitrust Litigation
If you are the antitrust lawyer for a defendant in a class action, defeating class certification is a major victory—usually a complete victory, pending appeal.
Jarod Bona (The Antitrust Attorney)
We have followed over the last years Europe grappling with the issue of most favoured nation clauses and hotel booking. Our last update regarded a joint monitoring project between the CMA and the European Commission, designed to monitor hotel prices and commission rates
Roman Madej (Bryan Cave EU Competition Law)
Ukrainian Antitrust Investigation into the Tobacco Market
The Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (‘the AMCU’) has recently completed complex research into the national tobacco market. The market research was triggered by the investigation against ‘TEDIS’ (‘Company’), which has a monopoly on the market of cigarette distribution in Ukraine.
Timur Bondaryev (Arzinger/Kluwer Competition)
For the third straight legislative session, the House Judiciary Committee has voted in favor of a bill—the Standard Merger and Acquisition Reviews Through Equal Rules (“SMARTER”) Act—that would amend the Clayton Act and Federal Trade Commission Act to align the standards and processes for the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) and Department of Justice’s (DOJ) review of proposed mergers and acquisitions…
Daniel A. Friedman & Melissa R. Ginsburg (Antitrust Update)
There are good chances that many of you have read/heard me say before (the last time towards the end of this speech) that whilst competition law is important, there are many more important things, some of which should not be subject to the competition rules, or even to competition.
Alfonso Lamadrid (Chilling Competition)
Global Antitrust Institute’s Critique of China’s Latest Antitrust-IP Guidelines is on the Mark
Over the last two years, the Scalia Law School’s Global Antitrust Institute (GAI) has taken a leadership role in promoting sound antitrust analysis of intellectual property rights (IPRs), through its insightful analysis of IP-antitrust guidance proffered by governments around the world (including by the United States antitrust agencies.)
Alden Abbott (Truth on the Market)
European Commission Blocks Merger of London Stock Exchange and Deutsche Börse
On 29 March 2017, the same day that United Kingdom has officially launched the Brexit process, the European Commission (Commission) blocked the proposed 29 billion Euro merger between Deutsche Börse AG (DBAG) and London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) under the EU Merger Regulation…
Oliver Heinisch & Michael Hofmann (Sheppard Mullin)
Considering a Retail Merger?
The UK Competition and Markets Authority (“CMA”) has published new commentary to inform companies on how it assess retail mergers. The commentary should be read by any retailer considering merging with a competitor in the UK.
Roman Madej (Bryan Cave EU Competition Law)
Supreme Court won’t weigh in on Sherman Act liability for false advertising
The incentive is high to identify a Sherman Act violation in your competitor’s conduct—three times higher, to be precise, than to bring a claim for an ordinary business tort or even a false advertising claim under the Lanham Act.
David Kleban and William F. Cavanaugh, Jr. (Antitrust Connect)
Jurassic case law?
Describing the case law as outdated, ordoliberal (one of the most abused and misunderstood notions in competition law commentary) or nonsense often makes lawyers score brownie points with peers and clients. And they are easy points, because it is not like the Court is going to intervene in the debate to defend itself.
Alfonso Lamadrid (Chilling Competition)
New Competition Bureau Compliance Blog Series
Competition compliance outreach is one of the Bureau’s key activities. In this regard, the Bureau engages in a range of efforts to encourage Canadian businesses and other organizations, including trade and professional associations, to comply with the federalCompetition Act.
Steve Szentesi (Canadian Competition & Regulatory Law)