Blog o’ Blogs November

November starts getting the first chills of winter, with a lower pace of developments and the first signs of the great debates to come for the year ahead. Debate continues as the Antitrust Community comes to grips with rising Cryptocurrency issues, fitting in the “Neo-Brandeisian” wave, and coming showdowns in the pharma and tech industries. Changes in regulation are imminent in emerging markets as they strike out on their own solutions, and other important international development in shaping the global Antitrust culture also feature as we trundle onwards to year’s end…

Competition enforcement in the EU: Public affairs’ strategies and transparency in the EU decision-making process
EU competition policy: based on political discretion? Many would agree that Brussels’ legislative priorities guide competition policy and enforcement…
Theodoros Birmpoutsoukis, Alberta Laschena (Kluwer Competition)

Regulation of cryptocurrency (PODCAST)
In this episode, Jay Levine and Porter Wright attorney Brett Thornton dive into e-currency, with a focus on cryptocurrency…
Jaray Zhao (Deal Law Wire)

A Brief Overview of the “New Brandeis” School of Antitrust Law
For the past several decades, antitrust law has been focused primarily on consumer harm—a given policy is unlikely to be considered anticompetitive if it results in lower prices for consumers.  A student note in a January 2017 edition of the Yale Law Journal titled “Amazon’s Antitrust Paradox,” argues that this focus is too narrow…
Jake Walter-Warner & Jonathan H. Hatch (Antitrust Update)

A Setback for Cartel Enforcement in Ireland: the Court of Appeal’s Judgment in the Commercial Flooring Bid-Rigging Cartel
Introduction In Ireland’s first bid-rigging case the Court of Appeal in its 20 June 2018 judgment decided that the fine imposed by the Central Criminal Court on Brendan Smith was unduly lenient…
Paul K. Gorecki (Trinity College Dublin/Kluwer Competition)

Platform Bans: German Competition Authority Critical Despite Coty Judgment
Since last year’s “Coty” judgment of the European Court of Justice (ECJ), it may have seemed settled that authorized dealers in a selective distribution network can be prohibited from selling products via third-party marketplaces…
Till Steinvorth & Boris Marschall (Orrick Antitrust)

New FTC Interpretation Will Require HSR Act Filing for Many Hospital Affiliation Transactions
The CMA’s recent “economic working paper” on the use of algorithms to facilitate collusion and personalised pricing follows on the heels of other work in this area…
Grant Murray, Keith Jones (Baker McKenzie)

N.D. Cal. Releases Comprehensive Procedural Guidance for Class Action Settlements
On November 1, 2018, the Northern District of California updated its Procedural Guidance for Class Action Settlements, requiring increased disclosures for settlement preliminary and final approval…
Michael W. Scarborough and Nadezhda Nikonova (Antitrust Attorney)

Botswana Competition Authority: Exception Application Backfires For Choppies-Payless Buying Group
The Competition Authority of Botswana (CA) rejected an exemption application brought by two FMCG players. The applicants, Choppies Distribution Centre and Payless Supermarkets…
Editor (African Antitrust)

Antitrust Reverse Termination Fees–2018 Q3 Update
An antitrust reverse termination fee (ARTF), sometimes called an antitrust reverse breakup fee, is a fee payable by the buyer to the seller if and only if the deal cannot close because the necessary antitrust approvals or clearances have not been obtained…
(Antitrust Unpacked)

FTC Secures Partial Victory Requiring SEP Holder to License to All Comers in Antitrust Case
Recently, a federal district court in California granted partial summary judgment for the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in an important intellectual property and antitrust case involving standard essential patents (SEP)…
Stefan M. Meisner & Lisa A. Peterson (Antitrust Alert)

Turkish Competition Authority to Reinvent Effects Doctrine in Pharmaceutical Industry: Roche Decision
On 27 September 2018, Turkish Competition Authority (“TCA”) published its decision concerning the allegations that Roche Müstahzarları A.Ş.  (“Roche”) had violated articles 4 and 6 of the Law on the Protection of Competition…
Bahadir Balki (ACTECON/Kluwer Competition)

U.S. Department of Justice Settles Anti-Steering Suit Against Hospital System; First Such Settlement After Amex SCOTUS Decision
On November 15, 2018, the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice settled a two-and-a-half year long lawsuit against Atrium Health, a North Carolina hospital system formerly known as the Carolinas HealthCare System…
David Garcia and Nadezhda Nikonova (Antitrust Law Blog)

Carl Hittinger, Jeanne-Michele Mariani Assess Justice Kavanaugh’s Testimony Regarding Antitrust Law
The article, “Justice Kavanaugh’s Antitrust Testimony Before the Senate Judiciary Committee,” examines the testimony of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh during his confirmation hearings last month, before his nomination was approved in the Senate…
Carl Hittinger & Jeanne-Michele Mariani (Antitrust Advocate)