Blog o’ Blogs January 19

January gets off to a rollicking start as major developments in global antitrust regulation drop, Antitrust continues to expand throughout the world (though not without its stumbles), and the competition and business communities grapple with the ever-growing influence of the Digital Economy over business as usual…

European Commission conference on ‘Shaping competition policy in an era of digitisation’: 5 key points and practical implications
The Commission’s big three worries: Data as a vital tool for doing business; platforms which control  access to important digital resources and then expand; killer acquisitions and other ways of blocking the path to innovation…
Grant Murray (Baker McKenzie/Kluwer Competition)

2018 in review: a selection of European competition law developments of interest (part I)
An exciting year it has been: from the European Commission’s infringement decisions in Google Android and in Qualcomm (excessive payments), to fines imposed in relation to restrictive vertical arrangements in connection with geo-blocking and RPM and commitments offered in the pay-TV investigation…
Christine Lavoie (Lavoie Legal)

A Comment on the Fugitive Disentitlement Doctrine
I have written before about the fugitive disentitlement doctrine and a recent case about the fugitive disentitlement doctrine caught my attention…
Robert Connolly (Cartel Capers)

The Australian approach to “consumer protection” policy is a threat to consumer welfare and free speech
The US Senate Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy, and Consumer Rights recently held hearings to see what, if anything, the U.S. might learn from the approaches of other countries regarding antitrust and consumer protection…
Kristian Stout & Akiva Malamet (Truth on the Market)

What does the Coty judgment mean for businesses that do business in Europe?
Companies often run selective distribution systems to preserve their brand image. To achieve this, for example, they may prohibit their distributors from reselling their products…
Magdalena Jakubicz and Luis Blanquezl (The Antitrust Attorney)

Irish Merger Control 2018 – 5 Takeaways
More Deals Receive More Scrutiny. Of 98 deals notified, 11 received extended CCPC review (including 4 Phase 2 reviews) – the most extended reviews ever conducted by the CCPC in a single year…
Philip Andrews (McCann FitzGerald/Kluwer Competition)

Kenya: Buyer power
Kenya has in some respects become the leading African authority in the regulation of buyer power in December 2016 when it adopted specific legislative provisions on buyer power through its competition law framework…
Editor (Africa Antitrust)

Fiscal State Aid and Tax Treaty Law: the puzzling decision in the McDonald’s Case
On 17 December 2018 the European Commission issued the public version of its decision in the McDonald’s case (SA.38945). The Commission found, contrary to its initial conclusion in the opening decision...
Jérôme Monsenego (Stockholm University/Kluwer Competition)

Judge Finds Lack of DOJ Funding No Excuse for Delay in Review of Public Comment to CVS-Aetna Merger
Though the merger of CVS and Aetna received conditional approval from the DOJ’s Antitrust Division back in October, the road to final approval has been rocky…
Amy N. Vegari, Ph.D. and Robert P. LoBue (Patterson Bellknap)

Ghana slowly inches towards antitrust law
As one of two key West African nation states (the other being Nigeria), Ghana still lacks functioning competition legislation at the close of 2018…
Editor (Africa Antitrust)

Drug Prices and Distortions in the Pharmaceutical Market
Drug makers recently announced their 2019 price increases on over 250 prescription drugs….
Joanna Shepherd (Truth on the Market)

The hard questions in the Lundbeck appeals: will Article 101 TFEU radically change?
As I explained in the past, the Commission decision in Lundbeck departed in some respects from the relevant case law (and, indeed, from the authority’s own past administrative practice)…
Pablo Ibañez Colomo (Chilling Competition)

Japan Introduces ”Commitment Procedure” for Alleged Antitrust Violations
On December 30, 2018, an amendment to the Japan Antimonopoly Act (the Act) to introduce “Commitment Procedure” became effective…
Shinsuke Yakura and Kazuo Isshiki (Orrick Antitrust)