July 1, 2002

Washington, D.C.

In this issue
Senate cautions DOJ on satellite merger
FTC rejects slotting fee guidelines
FTC opposes class action fees
Scheffman on getting your deal through
Ex-DOJ economists tough on Microsoft
Separate biz-op TRR in the works
Kids still targets of violent media ads
FTC adds patent lawyers to staff
Rx drugs: Schering ID – Leahy bill
NYBOE ripped-off again: copiers
DOJ challenges software agreement
FTC v. RAMBUS: what it all means
Report from Canada
Supplement: licensing alternatives

Merger watch – vertical challenge

Conventional wisdom predicts that Republican administrations are adverse to challenging vertical mergers in federal court. But on June …

June 17, 2002

In this issue:
Antitrust/intellectual property circling

Antitrust enforcement: don’t call Congress

People tell us that Echostar has been furiously lobbying on Capitol Hill to pressure the Justice Dept.’s Antitrust Division not to interfere with Echostar’s proposed acquisition of DirecTV from Hughes Corp. If consummated, this merger would create a U.S. monopoly in direct satellite broadcasting (DBS), and, should the Antitrust Division be persuaded that DBS is really just part of a broader market that includes cable television, at least 30 states are prepared to seek to enjoin the …

June 3, 2002

In this issue

Merger watch: getting to yes

Amgen Inc.’s proposed acquisition of Immunex Corp. is expected to clear FTC review in July as the firms go through the process of satisfying agency antitrust concerns about competition for two rheumatoid arthritis drugs, including an Immunex product, similar to Amgen’s Kineret product, that is still under development. [FTC:WATCH No. 588, May 6]

But intellectual property issues have become somewhat more difficult to resolve in the wake of the FTC’s failed consent agreement in …

May 6, 2002

Hospital buying groups under scrutiny
FTC spending large on energy cases
Funeral Home Rule review
FTC quality information guidelines
Hollings hearing postponed
Glassmaker merger blocked
Nike image ads called “commercial”
Muris on drug company strategies
Senate wary of AT&T/Comcast merger
Computer industry merger enforcement
Computer Associates gun-jumping case
New York Bar sues FTC over GLBA
Calendar

Merger watch

Amgen Inc.’s proposed acquisition of Immunex Corp. moved a step closer to satisfying FTC antitrust objections last week with the sale of Immunex Corp’s Leukine cancer drug to German firm Schering AG. But there’s more to do.

It …

April 22, 2002
Washington, D.C.

IN THIS ISSUE
Biovail must dismiss patent suit
Rx industry antitrust red flags
Anthony on dietary supplement claims
Public comments on disgorgement
Leary on “Clinical Integration” JVs
Efficiencies defense Canadian style
DOJ criminal cases
Exclusive dealing E,C. style
Microsoft update
Playwright antitrust exemption bill
Privacy
The antitrust legacy of Justice White
Calendar
FTC staff directory

Merger watch

For the mergers and acquisitions business, there’s good news and bad news this week. First, the bad news. The FTC has issued a request for additional information in connection with Wal-Mart’s proposed acquisition of to Amigo supermarket chain on the island …

April 8, 2002

Merger watch: when is a “club” store not a club store?

“The … Horizontal Merger Guidelines observe… that because the specific standards they set out must be applied in widely varied factual circumstances, mechanical application of those standards could produce misleading results. Thus, the Guidelines state that the agencies will apply those standards reasonably and flexibly to the particular facts and circumstances of each proposed merger.” – 1992 Horizontal Merger Guidelines, revised April 8, 1997

The FTC and the government of Puerto Rico are intensely scrutinizing Wal-Mart’s …

Washington, D.C.
March 25, 2002

In this issue:

Informal merger review workshops

Proposed HSR Rules amended
Staff advisory opinion: vaccines
Wanna run the do-not-call registry?
AAI: Orbitz’s service fee a price-fix
Business Review Letter: Credit JV
French exec jailed for price-fixing
Cartel investigation obstruction
E.U. leniency program helps U.S.
Kolasky on international mergers
FTC standards Guides needed
Merger watch
Calendar

Hollings challenges antitrust jurisdiction agreement Thompson alleges “deception”

This is getting serious, both on Capitol Hill and within the FTC.

Senator Ernest Hollings (D-S.C.) is considering a range of drastic options such as salary cuts and/or elimination of some political …

ISSN. 0196-0016
Washington, DC
February 25, 2002

In this issue:
Predatory pricing discussion
FTC opinion on class-action lawyers
State urged to drop M.D. bargaining bill
Clean-burning fuel regulations and antitrust
Consumers and antitrust in U.S. and E.U.
Antitrust Division watch
Popcorn firm settles COPPA charges
Virginia gasoline predatory pricing bill
Another BBB referral to FTC
Simons on merger analysis
Senate merger hearings
FTC staff clears medical JV
Valero seeks OK to divest Golden Eagle
Credit card merchant account charges

Generic drug cases advance at FTC and in the courts

Five days before the FTC announced a settlement with American Home Products Corp. …

February 11, 2002

Washington, DC

In this issue:
’03 antitrust budgets exceed inflation
Microsoft: settlement may be changed
Intellectual property hearings start
New stamp auction bid-rigging charges
U.S./E.U. enforcement convergence
States preparing to fill “vacuum”?
Calendar
Microsoft: aai v. Antitrust Division
Section 8 thresholds upped
DOJ backs Verizon’s LD application
Merger watch
Microsoft: Kohl, 30K others comment
Nestle/Ralston order revised

Antitrust jurisdiction agreement not dead … yet

A proposed FTC/DOJ agreement to divide antitrust jurisdiction remains to be implemented.

Neither the FTC nor the Justice Dept.’s Antitrust Division informed Congress of the plan before scheduling a January 17 press conference …

Washington, DC
January 14, 2002

Advertising: two more BBB referrals to FTC

The advertising industry’s self-regulation body has referred two new cases to the FTC since the Christmas holidays, bringing the total pending agency analysis to five.

Victoria Vogue, Inc. sicced the Council of better Business Bureaus’ National Advertising Division on Dicon Technologies, alleging that Dicon ads misrepresented the content of Purecell Velour & Sponge Puffs.

According to a NAD December 27 press release, Dicon claims that one side of its Purecell product is made of …

ISSN. 0196-0016
Washington, DC
March 11, 2002

In this issue:
Physicians’ antitrust relief returns
DISH-TV-DirecTV merger hearing
Antitrust disgorgement comments extended
Industry Guide dropped, others kept
Microsoft: the settlement sage continues Privacy
Calendar
Senior citizen drug card proposal, again
Do-not-call Rule amendments
Monti on antitrust & consumer welfare
Merger watch
Tauzin-Dingell passes with amendments
Wonder Bread ads return to FTC
Directory: State antitrust enforcers

“We have our tricks, too.”

The FTC and Justice Dept.’s confrontation with the U.S. Senate over a formal agreement to divide antitrust jurisdiction between the two agencies is likely to come to a head on March 19 when …

ISSN. 0196-0016

Washington, DC
January 28, 2002

In this issue:
No. 581 – 18 pages No. 580 (2002-2)
Leary on merger policy continuity
June Telemarketing workshop
Australia gets Consumer Sentinel access
Philips-Conoco 2nd Request
DOJ defends Premdor/Masonite case
Libbey changes Anchor-Hocking deal
Calendar
Starr and CATO debate M$ remedy
Report from north of the border
DOJ, Sprint, et al ask Judgment change
FTC challenges gelatin merger
Trial lawyers petition denied
Lilly swallows privacy pill

Oops.

For decades, commentators and antitrust lawyers have debated, discussed, argued and generally complained about the perceived problems associated with the shared antitrust enforcement jurisdiction between the …