Wiggin and Dana proudly announces the release of the Unfair Trade Practices (Vol. 12, Connecticut Practice Series) 2006 Pocket Part. The 300 page pocket part contains an extensive discussion of the “unfairness doctrine” that is considered “must reading” for practitioners in the field. The Pocket contains a new antitrust chapter, Chapter 9, not found in the original book.
The co-authors of the Unfair Trade Practices…
Read More Unfair Trade Practices (Volume 12, Connecticut Practice Series)Franchisors that own intellectual property (patents, copyrights, or trademarks)for use as part of the franchise system have long been confronted with an unfortunate and misguided presumption that their intellectual property rights automatically gave them market power — an essential element of many antitrust claims — in the system’s patented, copyrighted, or trademarked products and services. From an antitrust perspective, this presumption, although rebuttable, created a…
Read More Independent Ink: Supreme Court Abandons Market Power Presumption of PatentsOver the past decade, there has been a growing concern that plaintiffs’ lawyers increasingly filed large, national class actions in certain state court venues perceived to be very favorable to plaintiffs. These locations including Madison County, Illinois; Jefferson County, Texas; and Palm Beach County, Florida have been called everything from “magnet” jurisdictions to “magic” jurisdictions. Despite the fact that these class actions often involved plaintiffs…
Read More Class Action Fairness Act of 2005A 1993 article in this Journal reported, without fanfare, a federal district court ‘s holding that a “franchisor and franchisee were legally incapable of conspiring” in restraint of trade.1 Since that time, two other district courts and two courts of appeals have echoed that decision.2
Reprinted with permission from the Franchise Law Journal (American Bar Association), Volume 23, Number 1, Summer 2003
Read More Antitrust and Franchising: Conspiracies Between Franchisors and Franchisees Under Section 1Antitrust practitioners generally consider themselves well-versed in key antitrust principles, cases, and developments. They freely allude to “Colgate” and “GTE Sylvania” — meaning something other than toothpaste and televisions — in their everyday conversation. To remain at the top of their trade, they make an effort to stay current on the evolution of antitrust doctrines emanating from the U.S. Supreme Court and the application and…
Read More So You Think You’re Safe Under the Antitrust Laws? A Word of Advice to Those Who Would Ignore the StatesFrom the Newsletter, Page 3.
Having spent twenty-one years in the service of the public, and the last seven years in the private practice of law, I have taken on the task, perhaps quite presumptuously, of moralizing to two constituencies — my current brethren and my former brethren.
The European Commission’s prohibition of the merger of General Electric Co. and Honeywell Inc. portends a potentially troubling future for the review and approval of mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures throughout the world.
The transaction passed antitrust muster in the United States, but it encountered insurmountable opposition at the E.U. From numerous published reports, it appears that the competition methodology utilized by the EU differs…
Read More Global Merger Control in the New MillenniumEffective February 1, 2001, the HSR Act will be revised in important respects.
On December 21, 2000, the President signed into law the first significant changes in the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act, 15 U.S.C. § 18a, since its enactment in 1976. The Act requires parties intending to merge or make acquisitions of voting securities or assets to provide the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Antitrust Division…
Read More Important Notice Re: Changes To The Hart-Scott-Rodino Premerger Notification ActThe GLBA only applies to individuals who obtain financial products or services primarily for personal, family, or household purposes, and does not apply to companies or individuals who obtain financial products or services for business, commercial, or agricultural purposes.
On November 12, 1999, the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) became law, bringing important changes to the regulation of consumer privacy protection in the financial services industry. Title…
Read More Important Notice regarding The Gramm-Leach Bliley ActIn the same month that the Federal Trade Commission and the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice released their Antitrust Guidelines for Collaborations Among Competitors (“Collaboration Guidelines”), the New York State Attorney General won a decisive victory in a case that challenged a collaborative arrangement between two not-for-profit competitor hospitals.
Reprinted with permission from Matthew Bender’s Antitrust Report, October 2000
Read More Ongoing Lessons From Poughkeepsie