Antitrust and Consumer Protection Section

Welcome to the January 2022 E-briefs, News and Notes. This edition includes three E-Briefs including an extensive analysis by Betsy Manifold, Thomas H. Burt and Kate McGuire of Wolf Haldenstein of a Ninth Circuit opinion providing guidance on the evidence needed to support a plaintiffs’ verdict in an antitrust case. Read more

With high-profile litigation, a profusion of legislation, congressional investigations, and the rise of a Neo-Brandeisian theory of antitrust, the past five years have paved the way for a new critical appraisal of America’s competition laws. Now, antitrust is at an inflection point. With the Biden Administration appointing members of the latest wave of antitrust thought to top agency and advisory positions, as well as prioritizing competition, this moment is ripe for exploring new directions in antitrust. This symposium addresses the opportunities and challenges posed by the current antitrust laws, as well as the industries that are likely to shape the next era of antitrust application and theory. Read more

A class of retailers who do not accept American Express cards sued for damages as “umbrella” plaintiffs--retailers who alleged they had their own swipe fees increased because their credit card vendors followed Amex’s lead. The Second Circuit dismissed the suit holding that the non-Amex retailers were not efficient enforcers of the antitrust laws and therefore lacked antitrust standing. In re American Express Anti-Steering Rules Antitrust Litigation, Case No., 20-1766 (2d Cir. November 22, 2021) (hereinafter “Amex Anti-Steering Lit.”). Read more

On November 18, 2021, United States District Judge Jeffrey S. White dismissed most anticompetition claims brought against Uber Technologies, Inc. by San Francisco’s oldest cab company Desoto, recently renamed as Flywheel. Desoto Cab Company, Inc. v. Uber Technologies, Inc., et al., Case 4:16-cv-06385-JSW (N.D. Cal. November 18, 2021) Read more

In the longstanding In Re Apple iPhone Antitrust Litigation, Case 4-11-cv-06714 (N.D. Cal. filed November 8, 2021), Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Roger Read more

Ebriefs for December 2021 Read more

In this action, Complete Genomics, Inc, (CGI”) alleged that Illumina improperly asserted three patents against it in the related action Illumina v. BGI Genomics Co., No. 3:20-cv-01465-WHO (N.D. Cal., filed Feb. 27, 2020) (“Infringement Action”) in an “unlawful, anticompetitive manner.” Read more

In an order and opinion denying a motion for preliminary approval of class action settlement, U.S. District Judge Charles R. Breyer of the Northern District of California found the proposed settlement in Arena v. Intuit Inc., Case No. 19-cv-02546-CRB, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 41994(N.D. Cal. Mar. 5, 2021) was not fair, reasonable, and adequate, and therefore did not satisfy Rule 23(e) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, which requires the Court to approve class action settlements in light of due process concerns for absent class members. Read more

Welcome to the November E-briefs, News and Notes. This edition includes E-Briefs authored by Jonathan Levine, Pritzker Levine LLP, Kerry C. Klein, Farmer Brownstein Jaeger Goldstein Klein & Siegel LLP and Bob Connolly, Law Office of Robert Connolly. The Agency Update section includes links to numerous DOJ/FTC press releases. Read more

Please join us for cocktails and hors d'oeuvres in this outdoor and temperature-controlled space in the heart of downtown. Read more