The FTC has expressed concerns that Google’s Motorola Mobility subsidiary had violated Section 5 of the FTC Act by attempting to enjoin the users of patents that are essential to produce standardized technology. In the decree, Google agreed to license those patents on fair, reasonable and nondiscriminatory (FRAND) terms and refrain from seeking injunctive relief […]
Category Archives: Federal Trade Commission
FTC & Google Agree to Commitment Letter on Allegations that Google Used Its Search Engine Anticompetitively
February 8, 2013 – 9:20 am
The Federal Trade Commission resolved its long-running investigation of Google by entering a commitment letter with the internet search giant. At the behest of Google’s competitors, the FTC investigated whether the company unfairly promoted its own specialized search offerings over those of other companies. The Commission focused on whether Google had created universal results pages to replace […]
Drug Patent Settlements May Include Provisions in Which the Patent Holder Agrees Not to Introduce Its Own Generic Version of the Drug
January 15, 2013 – 12:51 pm
In Louisiana Wholesale Drug Co. Inc. v. SmithKline Beecham Corp. et al., District of New Jersey Judge William H. Walls dismissed a putative class action against leading drug makers alleging that the patent holder improperly promised not to introduce its own generic version of the drug as part of a settlement delaying the entry of […]
US Supreme Court to Decide Whether Reverse Payment Settlements Between Patented and Generic Drug Manufacturers Violate the Antitrust Laws
January 15, 2013 – 12:48 pm
In Federal Trade Commission v. Watson Pharmaceuticals Inc., the US Supreme Court will review the Federal Trade Commission’s finding that Solvay Pharmaceuticals Inc. and several generic drug makers violated the antitrust laws by agreeing that Solvay would pay the generic companies to forestall challenges to the patent protecting its popular testosterone-replacement drug AndroGel. The FTC […]
Drug Industry Opposes FTC Proposal to Expand the Reportability of Patent Licensing Deals
December 9, 2012 – 11:44 am
The Federal Trade Commission is coming under fire by pharmaceutical groups for proposing to expand its review of exclusive pharmaceutical patent rights licenses. Under the proposed change, a drug patent holder would need to report a license to the FTC under the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Act if the patent owner transfers the exclusive marketing and sales […]
Hertz Agrees to Sell Some of Its Holdings to Relieve FTC’s Antitrust Concerns
November 30, 2012 – 1:18 pm
After the Federal Trade Commission’s investigation of Hertz Global Holdings, Inc.’s purchase of Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group Inc., the FTC announced that the parties entered into a settlement, where Hertz will sell some of its holdings in order to relieve FTC’s antitrust concerns. FTC began its investigation of the purchase out of fears that the […]
FTC Closes Investigation Into Several Drug Patent Deals
November 6, 2012 – 2:05 pm
The Federal Trade Commission has ended its investigation of settlements involving Bayer’s Yasmin birth control drug between Bayer Schering Pharma AG and Barr Laboratories Inc. The investigation stemmed from an agreement between Barr, which was acquired by Teva for $9 billion in 2008, in which Barr was granted the right to market a generic version […]
Supreme Court Will Address Antitrust State Action Exemption
October 24, 2012 – 8:28 am
The state action exemption to the federal antitrust laws holds that governments do not violate the antitrust laws, firms do. State laws with anticompetitive impacts thus do not run afoul of federal law when they restrain trade even though the same conduct by private actors would violate the law. The exemption is entirely judge-made and […]
FTC Proposes Closer Scrutiny of Drug Patent Licensing
September 11, 2012 – 10:36 am
The Federal Trade Commission has proposed a rule requiring drug companies to report transactions in which a drug company licenses another to exclusively market and sell a drug while retaining the right to manufacture it. Historically, the sale of a patent was a reportable transaction under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Pre-merger Notification Act, which requires the reporting […]
Pharmacy Cooperative Agrees to a 20-Year Ban on Price Negotiations
August 31, 2012 – 11:25 am
In In the Matter of Cooperativa de Farmacias Puertorriquenas, the Cooperativa de Farmacias Puertorriquenas (Coopharma), a Puerto Rican pharmacy cooperative, agreed to stop negotiating prices on behalf of its more than 300 members for 10 years, as part of an antitrust settlement with the Federal Trade Commission. According to the FTC’s complaint, Coopharma, which consists […]