On August 15, 2025, D.C. District Judge Sparkle L. Sooknanan issued a preliminary injunction preventing the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) from implementing or enforcing the Civil Investigative Demand (“CID”) that it had issued to the left-wing watchdog journalism organization, Media Matters for America.[1] Judge Sooknanan warned that “[i]t should alarm all Americans when the Government retaliates against individuals or organizations for engaging in constitutionally
Read More D.C. District Court Blocks FTC Investigation Into Watchdog Journalism Non-Profit, “Media Matters for America”
D.C. District Court Finds President Trump’s Firing of FTC Commissioner Illegal
UPDATE: The Trump Administration immediately appealed Judge AliKhan’s order to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. On July 21, 2025, the Court of Appeals entered an administrative stay, thus temporarily blocking Slaughter’s reinstatement to the FTC. In a one page order, the Court of Appeals explained that the purpose of the stay is to “give the court sufficient opportunity
Read More D.C. District Court Finds President Trump’s Firing of FTC Commissioner IllegalMerger Remedies are Back in Play under Trump 2.0
The Federal Trade Commission’s (“FTC”) recent settlement of the Synopsys/Ansys merger and the Department of Justice Antitrust Division’s (“DOJ”) settlement of the Keysight/Spirent merger are signs that, under the new Trump administration, the agencies are interested in putting merger remedies, which had essentially been a non-starter during the Biden administration, back on the table. FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson, who issued a statement in connection with
Read More Merger Remedies are Back in Play under Trump 2.0Settled Yet Uncertain: Final Approval of NCAA NIL Settlement Opens Doors to More Antitrust Challenges
On June 6, U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken approved a proposed settlement agreement [VZ1] between the National Collegiate Athletics Association (“NCAA”), the Power Five Conferences and student athletes, effectively paving the way for name, likeness, and image (“NIL”) compensation for student athletes.[1] The approval comes nearly five years after student athletes filed the class action lawsuit for alleged violations of the Sherman Act related
Read More Settled Yet Uncertain: Final Approval of NCAA NIL Settlement Opens Doors to More Antitrust ChallengesIntroducing Blog of Reason: Wiggin and Dana’s Antitrust and Consumer Protection Blog
Wiggin and Dana’s Antitrust and Technology Disputes Practice Group is excited to launch Blog of Reason, named for the so-called “rule of reason” under U.S. antitrust law. As followers of antitrust law know, a “rule of reason” analysis is expansive, searching, and nuanced. Blog of Reason aspires to be the same. But our blog’s coverage will be broader than its namesake legal framework, offering
Read More Introducing Blog of Reason: Wiggin and Dana’s Antitrust and Consumer Protection BlogFederal Judge Allows FTC’s Robinson-Patman Act Suit Against Southern Glazers Wine and Spirits to Continue Beyond Motion to Dismiss Stage
The Federal Trade Commission’s (“FTC”) first Robinson-Patman Act (“RPA”) suit in decades has survived a motion to dismiss. The Honorable Fred W. Slaughter in the United States District Court for the Central District of California ruled on the papers that the FTC’s Complaint against Southern Glazers Wine and Spirits, LLC (“Southern”) “sufficiently alleges” a claim that Southern has engaged in price discrimination that injures competition among its customers, a secondary-line discrimination claim, as detailed below.[1]
As we summarized in a prior advisory (available here), two years ago, during the Biden administration’s tenure, the FTC announced its intention to ramp up enforcement of the RPA, a Great Depression era anti-price discrimination law, after decades of non-enforcement. The RPA forbids a seller of goods from engaging in price discrimination between two or more different purchasers. The rationale for the RPA was that preventing such price discrimination would enable smaller companies to compete with larger businesses.
Read More Federal Judge Allows FTC’s Robinson-Patman Act Suit Against Southern Glazers Wine and Spirits to Continue Beyond Motion to Dismiss StagePrivate Merger Challenges and SAEVA — What Merging Parties Need to Know
The potential for antitrust challenges brought by the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) or the United States Department of Justice (“DOJ”) is well known among deal-making parties. However, parties should also keep in mind two lesser-known antitrust issues when seeking to complete their merger: (1) the potential for private merger challenges; and (2) the increased likelihood of becoming engaged in multi-district litigation in the post State
Read More Private Merger Challenges and SAEVA — What Merging Parties Need to KnowTrump 2.0 — Back to the Future?
After winning the presidency, Donald Trump will look to bring his own antitrust enforcement priorities to his second administration. During his first term, Donald Trump’s Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) and Department of Justice (“DOJ”) engaged in relatively robust enforcement of the antitrust laws, including suing to block the proposed merger of AT&T/Time Warner, as well as bringing cases against Google and Meta (formerly Facebook) for
Read More Trump 2.0 — Back to the Future?FTC Finalizes Dramatic Changes to HSR Premerger Filing
On October 10, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) announced its final rules with respect to Premerger Notification under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvement Act of 1976 (as amended) (“HSR”). The final rules formalize what will be the largest change to premerger notification requirements since at least 2000. The final rules follow from the draft rules that the FTC published in June 2023.[1] The new
Read More FTC Finalizes Dramatic Changes to HSR Premerger FilingFederal Trade Commission Issuing Non-Compete Clause Rule
On April 23, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) voted to issue a rule prohibiting noncompete agreements with very few exceptions.[1] The issuance of the rule, which was expected, follows the FTC’s prior release of a draft of the proposed rule back in January 2023. Nevertheless, the rule will have a far-reaching effect once, and if, it is fully implemented 120 days after it
Read More Federal Trade Commission Issuing Non-Compete Clause Rule