Showing archive for: “DOJ”
Highlights from Josh Wright’s Interview in The Antitrust Source
Anyone interested in antitrust enforcement policy (and what TOTM reader isn’t?) should read FTC Commissioner Josh Wright’s interview in the latest issue of The Antitrust Source. The extensive (22 page!) interview covers a number of topics and demonstrates the positive influence Commissioner Wright is having on antitrust enforcement and competition policy in general. Commissioner Wright’s ... Highlights from Josh Wright’s Interview in The Antitrust Source
How to Reform Operation Choke Point
“Operation Choke Point” (OCP) is an interdepartmental initiative by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and federal financial services regulators to discourage financial intermediaries from dealing with consumer fraud-plagued industries. In an August 4 Heritage Foundation Legal Memorandum, I discuss the misapplication of this potentially beneficial project and recommend possible measures to reform OCP. If ... How to Reform Operation Choke Point
CONDITIONAL PRICING PRACTICES AND THE LIMITS OF ANTITRUST
The Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) June 23 Workshop on Conditional Pricing Practices featured a broad airing of views on loyalty discounts and bundled pricing, popular vertical business practices that recently have caused much ink to be spilled by the antitrust commentariat. In addition to predictable academic analyses featuring alternative theoretical anticompetitive effects stories, the Workshop ... CONDITIONAL PRICING PRACTICES AND THE LIMITS OF ANTITRUST
Antitrust Enforcers’ Stealth Undermining of Patent Rights – Shedding Light on a Recent and Troubling Phenomenon
In recent years, antitrust enforcers in Europe and the United States have made public pronouncements and pursued enforcement initiatives that undermine the ability of patentees to earn maximum profits through the unilateral exercise of rights within the scope of their patents, as discussed in separate recent articles by me and by Professor Nicolas Petit of ... Antitrust Enforcers’ Stealth Undermining of Patent Rights – Shedding Light on a Recent and Troubling Phenomenon
For Better Health Care Systems, States Should Take a Dose of Competition and Reject Antitrust Exemptions
Government impediments to the efficient provision of health care services in the United States are legion. While much recent attention has focused on the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which by design reduces consumer choice and competition, harmful state law restrictions have long been spotlighted by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and ... For Better Health Care Systems, States Should Take a Dose of Competition and Reject Antitrust Exemptions
Need for Chinese Antitrust Reform (and IP and Price-Related Concerns) Spotlighted at ABA Beijing Conference
The American Bar Association’s (ABA) “Antitrust in Asia: China” Conference, held in Beijing May 21-23 (with Chinese Government and academic support), cast a spotlight on the growing economic importance of China’s six-year old Anti-Monopoly Law (AML). The Conference brought together 250 antitrust practitioners and government officials to discuss AML enforcement policy. These included the leaders ... Need for Chinese Antitrust Reform (and IP and Price-Related Concerns) Spotlighted at ABA Beijing Conference
The Ninth Circuit Rescues the Government Raisin Cartel
On May 9, 2014, in Horne v. Department of Agriculture, the Ninth Circuit struck a blow against economic liberty by denying two California raisin growers’ efforts to recover penalties imposed against them by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The growers’ heinous offense was their refusal to continue participating in a highly anticompetitive cartel. In ... The Ninth Circuit Rescues the Government Raisin Cartel
TOTM welcomes new blogger Alden Abbott
We’re delighted to announce the newest addition to our blogging roster, Alden Abbott. Alden recently joined the Heritage Foundation as Senior Fellow and Deputy Director of the Center for Legal and Judicial Studies. For two years ending in April 2014, he was Director, Global Patent Law and Competition Strategy at Blackberry. Alden has been at ... TOTM welcomes new blogger Alden Abbott
Why the Antitrust Realities Support the Comcast-Time Warner Cable Merger
I have a new article on the Comcast/Time Warner Cable merger in the latest edition of the CPI Antitrust Chronicle, which includes several other articles on the merger, as well. In a recent essay, Allen Grunes & Maurice Stucke (who also have an essay in the CPI issue) pose a thought experiment: If Comcast can ... Why the Antitrust Realities Support the Comcast-Time Warner Cable Merger
FTC at a crossroads: The McWane case
Anyone familiar with the antitrust newstream realizes there is a tremendous amount of controversy about the Federal Trade Commission’s administrative litigation process. Unlike the Antitrust Division which fights its litigation battles in Federal Court, the FTC has a distinct home court advantage. FTC antitrust cases are typically litigated administratively with a trial conducted before an ... FTC at a crossroads: The McWane case
Welcome new TOTM bloggers Gus Hurwitz and Ben Sperry
We’re delighted to welcome two new bloggers to Truth on the Market: Gus Hurwitz and Ben Sperry. Gus is an assistant professor of law at the University of Nebraska. His work looks at the interface between law and technology and the role of regulation in high-tech industries. He has a particular expertise in telecommunications law and ... Welcome new TOTM bloggers Gus Hurwitz and Ben Sperry
The Myth of the “Patent Troll” Litigation Explosion
[Cross posted at The Center for the Protection of Intellectual Property] In a prior blog posting, I reported how reports of a so-called “patent litigation explosion” today are just wrong. As I detailed in another blog posting, the percentage of patent lawsuits today are not only consistent with historical patent litigation rates in the nineteenth ... The Myth of the “Patent Troll” Litigation Explosion
