Upcoming revisions to the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, as amended (the “HSR Act”) will result in numerous additional pharmaceutical licensing transactions becoming subject to filing requirements under the HSR Act. On November 6, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (the “FTC”) released the final version of amendments to be made to the HSR Act. The amendments will impact the analysis of whether parties to
Read More Federal Trade Commission Expands Requirements for Reporting Pharmaceutical Patent License TransactionsBusiness Torts as Little FTC Act Claims: Does the Difference Really Make a Difference?
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Section 5(a)(1) of the Federal Trade Commission Act (the FTC Act), 15 U.S.C. § 45(a)(1), prohibits, among other offenses, “unfair or deceptive acts or practices.” Twenty-eight states have en-acted FTC Act analogues, which are commonly referred to as “Little FTC Acts.” See chart appended as Exhibit A.
Because these state statutes are based on the FTC Act, states have long looked to precedent under…
Read More Business Torts as Little FTC Act Claims: Does the Difference Really Make a Difference?The FTC’s Revised Green Guides
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On October 1, 2012, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued final revisions to its Guides for the Use of Environmental Marketing Claims (Green Guides or Guidance). The FTC will publish the more than 300-page Green Guides in the Federal Register at 16 C.F.R. Part 260; you may review the text of the Guidance here and at the FTC’s website. Though the Guidance does not…
Read More The FTC’s Revised Green GuidesState Antitrust Law: A Trap for the Unwary
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The Second Prong of the “Cigarette Rule’ Continues to Serve as a Basis for Finding Unfairness Under Several “Little FTC Acts’
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Reproduced with permission from Antitrust & Trade Regulation Report, 101 ATRR 408, 09/30/2011. Copyright _ 2011 by The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc. (800-372-1033) http://www.bna.com.
I. Introduction
The authority of the Federal Trade Commission (‘‘FTC” or ‘‘the Commission”) to prohibit ‘‘unfair or deceptive acts or practices” dates back to the Wheeler-Lea Amendment to the FTC Act in 1938.[1]
Since then, federal and state courts…
Read More The Second Prong of the “Cigarette Rule’ Continues to Serve as a Basis for Finding Unfairness Under Several “Little FTC Acts’Antitrust and Consumer Protection Newsletter
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In This Issue:
- FTC and DOJ Issue Revised Horizontal Merger Guidelines
- Wiggin and Dana Authors Influential Brief on Confidentiality of Documents Produced Under an Antitrust Subpoena
- Resale Price Maintenance Redux
- In-House Attorney/Client Communications Are Not Privileged In The European Union
FTC AND DOJ ISSUE REVISED HORIZONTAL MERGER GUIDELINES
On August 19, 2010, the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission (the “Agencies”) issued Revised…
Read More Antitrust and Consumer Protection NewsletterSo You Still Think You’re Safe Under the Antitrust Laws? Another Word of Advice To Those Who Would Ignore The States
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Eight years ago, in the fall of 2002, we authored an article in the pages of the Antitrust Report that warned of the dangers of assuming that state antitrust law would always be the same as its federal counterpart.1 That warning is even more salient today than when originally written. The United States Supreme Court’s 2007 decision in Leegin Creative Leather Products, Inc. v.
Read More So You Still Think You’re Safe Under the Antitrust Laws? Another Word of Advice To Those Who Would Ignore The StatesPractical Application of Consumer Privacy Laws to Franchised Businesses*
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This year brings the commencement or increase in enforcement of three major privacy initiatives. First, on March 1, 2010, Massachusetts began enforcement of its specific, and as many would claim, onerous privacy regulation. While only a Massachusetts state regulation, the implementing law states that its jurisdictional reach is to all businesses that possess personal information about a Massachusetts resident. Thus, although this jurisdictional claim has…
Read More Practical Application of Consumer Privacy Laws to Franchised Businesses*What is Superiority?
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Consumer protection and antitrust attorneys seeking to prevent class certifications have three powerful, but underused, defenses upon which they can rely: a completed, a pending, or an anticipated government investigation or lawsuit (collectively, government action). In certain circumstances, these potential defenses could result in denial of a class certification motion, as a court may find that due to the government action, a class action lawsuit…
Read More What is Superiority?Significant Developments in Clinical Integration: Federal Trade Commission Opinion Approves of Physician-Hospital Organization Proposal to Negotiate Jointly with Payers
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On April 13, 2009, the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Competition, Health Care Division (“BC”) issued a 37-page Advisory Opinion (“Opinion”) to TriState Health Partners, Inc. (“TriState”), a physician-hospital organization based in Hagerstown, Maryland, stating that the BC would not recommend that the Commission challenge TriState’s proposed clinical integration program under the antitrust laws. The Opinion is noteworthy because it provides the most detailed discussion…
Read More Significant Developments in Clinical Integration: Federal Trade Commission Opinion Approves of Physician-Hospital Organization Proposal to Negotiate Jointly with Payers