The United States Department of Justice, Antitrust Division, along with several states’ attorneys general have sued Visa, MasterCard, and American Express alleging that the card systems’ rules prohibiting merchants from offering discounts to consumers who use a particular card brand constitute unreasonable vertical agreements in restraint of trade. The Division simultaneously filed a proposed consent […]
Category Archives: Antitrust Division Action
Another Guilty Plea in DOJ Air Cargo Cartel Probe
October 1, 2010 – 11:25 am
Update October 2010: Six international freight forwarding companies have agreed to pay criminal fines in the U.S. case totaling $50.3 million. Update July 2010:Northwest Airlines, now part of Delta, has plead guilty and agreed to pay a $38 million fine and assist in the on-going investigation. Delta stressed that the illegal conduct occurred before it […]
DOJ Signs Off on United-Continental Merger
August 31, 2010 – 3:06 pm
The Antitrust Division agreed not to challenge the United-Continental merger when the merging airlines agreed to lease 18 pairs of takeoff and landing slots at Newark Liberty International Airport to discount carrier Southwest Airlines. Aside from the concern about barrier to entry into Newark, which were alleviated by the leasing agreement, the Antitrust Division took […]
Blood Reagent Price-Fixing MDL Moves Forward
August 27, 2010 – 4:03 pm
E.D. PA Judge Jan Dubois denied defendant Immucor Inc. & Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics Inc. motion to dismiss on the ground that the plaintiffs had failed to sufficiently allege an agreement. The judge cited the close timing of the defenants’ price increases for blood reagent; their cancellations of contracts with group purchasers; and […]
New Merger Guidelines Released
August 19, 2010 – 3:30 pm
The United States Department of Justice, Antitrust Division, and the Federal Trade Commission have released new merger guidelines explaining how the enforcement agencies review horizontal mergers. The merger guidelines have existed in various forms since 1968. The last major revision was in the mid-1990s. The agencies announced last fall that they were planning to revise the […]
DOJ Attack on Milk Processing Plant Merger to Move Forward
August 18, 2010 – 1:18 pm
E.D. Wisconsin Judge J.P. Stadtmueller held that the Department of Justice’s complaint seeking to undo a consumated merger between milk processing plants adequately stated a claim despite less than precise allegations of the relevant geographic market. The court nevertheless expressed disappointment with the lack of specificity in the complaint.
DOJ & Election Systems Agree on Asset Sell Off
May 28, 2010 – 2:00 pm
The Antitrust Division is requiring Election Systems & Software (“ESS”) to sell off allversions of Premier’s hardware, software, and firmware used to record, tabulate, transmit or report votes. The buyer must also be granted a license to use ESS’s software for disabled voters. A division spokesperson stated that the divestiture will restore competition allowing for […]
Third Circuit Upholds Dismissal of Claims Against Dentsply
May 27, 2010 – 2:02 pm
The Third Circuit affirmed the dismisal of two cases challenging Dentsply’s agreements with dealers with respect to the sale of competitive artificial teeth. The court first upheld the denial of the plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment on the ground that an earlier decision against Dentsply in a government case was not sufficient to establish injury […]
House Passes Bill to Retain Private Damage Protection for Successful Leniency Applicants
May 25, 2010 – 9:10 am
Update May 2010: The House has passed a bill extending the program through 2015, and the Senate is considering a similar bill with bi-partisan support. On June 19, 2009, just two days before the Antitrust Criminal Penalty Enhancement and Reform Act of 2004 (ACPERA) was set to expire, President Obama signed into law a provision extending […]
Fines Imposed in Ice Cartel Case
March 18, 2010 – 1:06 pm
Southern District of Ohio Judge Herman Weber has imposed $9 million dollar fines on Home City Ice Co. and Artic Glacier International for conspiring to fix the price for prepackaged ice in the Detroit area. The fines constitute a significant reduction from the sentencing guidelines in response to the parties cooperation with the investigation. Reddy […]