Showing archive for: “FTC”
Commissioner Wright goes down swinging over amendments to the FTC’s HSR rules
Last week, over Commissioner Wright’s dissent, the FTC approved amendments to its HSR rules (final text here) that, as Josh summarizes in his dissent, establish, among other things, a procedure for the automatic withdrawal of an HSR filing upon the submission of a filing to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announcing that the notified transaction has been terminated. I discussed the proposed amendments ... Commissioner Wright goes down swinging over amendments to the FTC’s HSR rules
The FTC and Innovative Business Models for Patented Innovation
The Federalist Society has started a new program, The Executive Branch Review, which focuses on the myriad fields in which the Executive Branch acts outside of the constitutional and legal limits imposed on it, either by Executive Orders or by the plethora of semi-independent administrative agencies’ regulatory actions. I recently posted on the Federal Trade Commission’s ... The FTC and Innovative Business Models for Patented Innovation
“A Line in the Sand on the Calls for New Patent Legislation,” by Wayne Sobon
Over at the blog for the Center for the Protection for Intellectual Property, Wayne Sobon, the Vice President and General Counsel of Inventergy, has posted an important essay that criticizes the slew of congressional bills that have been proposed in Congress in recent months. In A Line in the Sand on the Calls for New Patent ... “A Line in the Sand on the Calls for New Patent Legislation,” by Wayne Sobon
Bringing the Error Cost Framework to the Agency: Commissioner Wright’s Proposed Policy Statement on Section 5 Unfair Methods of Competition Enforcement
FTC Commissioner Wright issued today his Policy Statement on enforcement of Section 5 of the FTC Act against Unfair Methods of Competition (UMC)—the one he promised in April. Wright introduced the Statement in an important policy speech this morning before the Executive Committee Meeting of the New York State Bar Association’s Antitrust Section. Both the Statement ... Bringing the Error Cost Framework to the Agency: Commissioner Wright’s Proposed Policy Statement on Section 5 Unfair Methods of Competition Enforcement
Final Reply to Steve Salop
Dan’s final post responding to Steve’s latest post. Other posts in the series: Dan, Steve, Dan, Steve, Dan, and Thom. It seems that it’s time to wind down and that a further tit-for-tat might not be productive, so I’ll close with a final comment on the first point that Steve makes—one that may undergird much of our disagreement. Steve asserts that “the $71 ... Final Reply to Steve Salop
Dan, Come Over to the Rule of Reason
Steve’s next, perhaps final, installment, responding to Dan’s latest post on the appropriate liability rule for loyalty discounts. Other posts in the series: Steve, Dan, Steve, Dan, and Thom. My invitation comes with several hopefully final observations. (1) Dan says, “There’s neither input foreclose nor output foreclosure if a rival can neutralize a loyalty discount without pricing unprofitably.” My examples showed several reasons ... Dan, Come Over to the Rule of Reason
A Further Reply to Steve Salop
Dan’s next installment, responding to Steve’s latest post responding to Dan’s latest post on the appropriate liability rule for loyalty discounts. Other posts in the series: Steve, Dan, and Thom. I’m happy to keep going back in forth with Steve until we wear out our welcome at TOTM, or simply wear out. [Keep ’em coming! – ed.] (1) There’s neither input foreclose ... A Further Reply to Steve Salop
Crane is not Right: A Response to Dan Crane on Loyalty Discounts
Guest post by Steve Salop responding to Dan’s latest post on the appropriate liability rule for loyalty discounts. Other posts in the series: Steve, Dan, and Thom. (1) Dan says that price-cost test should apply to “customer foreclosure” allegations. One of my key points was that many loyalty discount claims involve “input foreclosure” or “raising rivals’ costs” effects, not plain-vanilla ... Crane is not Right: A Response to Dan Crane on Loyalty Discounts
Wright is Right, and Wright is Wrong: A Response to Steve Salop on Loyalty Discounts
Guest post by Dan Crane, responding to Steve’s post responding to Dan’s earlier post and Thom’s post on the appropriate liability rule for loyalty discounts. Something that Thom and I both said in our earlier posts needs to be repeated at the outset: I don’t know of anyone who disagrees with Steve and Josh that raising rivals’ costs (“RRC”) and ... Wright is Right, and Wright is Wrong: A Response to Steve Salop on Loyalty Discounts
Wright is Right and Price-Cost Safe Harbors are Wrong: The Raising Rivals’ Cost Paradigm, Loyalty Discounts and Exclusive Dealing
Guest post by Steve Salop, responding to Dan’s post and Thom’s post on the appropriate liability rule for loyalty discounts. I want to clarify some of the key issues in Commissioner Wright’s analysis of Exclusive Dealing and Loyalty Discounts as part of the raising rivals’ costs (“RRC”) paradigm. I never thought that I would have to defend Wright against ... Wright is Right and Price-Cost Safe Harbors are Wrong: The Raising Rivals’ Cost Paradigm, Loyalty Discounts and Exclusive Dealing
Dan Crane on Commissioner Wright’s Rejection of a Price-Cost Test for Loyalty Discounts
Guest post by Michigan Law’s Dan Crane. (See also Thom’s post taking issue with FTC Commissioner Josh Wright’s recent remarks on the appropriate liability rule for loyalty discounts). A number of people on both sides of the ideological spectrum were surprised by FTC Commissioner Josh Wright’s recent speech advocating that the FTC reject the use of price-cost ... Dan Crane on Commissioner Wright’s Rejection of a Price-Cost Test for Loyalty Discounts
Should There Be a Safe Harbor for Above-Cost Loyalty Discounts? Why I Believe Wright’s Wrong.
It’s not often that I disagree with my friend and co-author, FTC Commissioner Josh Wright, on an antitrust matter. But when it comes to the proper legal treatment of loyalty discounts, the Commish and I just don’t see eye to eye. In a speech this past Monday evening, Commissioner Wright rejected the view that there should ... Should There Be a Safe Harbor for Above-Cost Loyalty Discounts? Why I Believe Wright’s Wrong.
