Antitrust and Trade Regulation Commons^™

A Machete For The Patent Thicket: Using Noerr-Pennington Doctrine’S Sham Exception To Challenge Abusive Patent Tactics By Pharmaceutical Companies, Lisa Orucevic

Vanderbilt Law Review

Outrageous drug prices have dominated news coverage of the American healthcare system for years. Yet despite widespread condemnation of skyrocketing drug prices, nothing seems to change. Pharmaceutical companies can raise drug prices with impunity because they hold patents on their drugs, which give them monopolies. These monopolies are only supposed to last twenty years, and then competing lower-cost drugs like generics can enter the market, driving down the costs of pharmaceuticals for all. But pharmaceutical companies have created “patent thickets,” dense webs of overlapping patents surrounding one drug, which have artificially extended the companies’ monopolies for years or even decades …

The Customer Is Not Always Right: Balancing Worker And Customer Welfare In Antitrust Law, Clayton J. Masterman

Vanderbilt Law Review

This Note analyzes how courts' leniency affects a particular category of anticompetitive buyer conduct: agreements between employers that restrict competition in labor markets. If, as courts and commentators generally agree, the goal of antitrust law is to promote the welfare of consumers, how should courts balance the welfare of workers and customers under antitrust analysis? Arguably, worker welfare should be included in consumer welfare. If so, anticompetitive agreements between employers benefit one subset of consumers (customers), while hurting another subset (workers). The persistent procustomer and antiworker effect of such complicates a court's choice to find conduct per se unreasonable or …

Capturing The Transplant: U.S. Antitrust Law In The European Union, Silvia Beltrametti

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The scholarly literature on the movement of legal norms focuses almost exclusively on transfers from one jurisdiction to another. It largely ignores transfers into new regulatory regimes. Drawing on a case study of the transplantation of U.S. antitrust law into the nascent entity that was to become the European Community, and analyzing its evolution from a public choice perspective, this Article suggests that transfers into new regulatory regimes are more likely to be effective when the lack of established institutions creates opportunities for stakeholders. The endorsement of a new law will enable stakeholders to influence its application and to capture …

The Influence Of The Areeda-Hovenkamp Treatise In The Lower Courts And What It Means For Institutional Reform In Antitrust, Rebecca Haw Allensworth

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

It is often pointed out that while the United States Supreme Court is the final arbiter in setting antitrust policy and promulgating antitrust rules, it does so too infrequently to be an efficient regulator. And since the antitrust agencies, the Federal Trade Commission ("FTC") and the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice ("DOJ"), rarely issue guidelines, and even more rarely issue rules or regulations, very little antitrust law is handed down from on high. Instead, circuits split, and lower courts must muddle through new antitrust problems by finding analogies in technologically and socially obsolete precedents. When faced with this …

Identifying A Maverick: When Antitrust Law Should Protect A Low-Cost Competitor, Taylor M. Owings

Vanderbilt Law Review

Shortly after taking office, President Barack Obama announced that his Administration would pursue a policy of vigorous antitrust enforcement in order to ensure healthy competition in the economy.' In two of the highest-profile antitrust cases that have followed, the United States Department of Justice ("DOJ") sought to block two proposed mergers in which the target companies were low-cost competitors in their industries. The DOJ won a judgment in November 2011 that blocked retail-tax giant H&R Block from acquiring 2nd Story Software, maker of the low-cost digital tax- preparation program TaxACT. A month later, the DOJ scored another "victory" when AT&T …

Adversarial Economics In Antitrust Litigation: Losing Academic Consensus In The Battle Of The Experts, Rebecca Haw Allensworth

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

The adversarial presentation of expert scientific evidence tends to obscure academic consensus. In the context of litigation, small, marginal disagreements can be made to seem important and settled issues can be made to appear hopelessly deadlocked. This Article explores this dynamic's effect on antitrust litigation. Modem antitrust law is steeped in microeconomics, and suits rely heavily on economic expert witnesses. Indeed, expert testimony is often the "whole game" in an antitrust dispute because experts testify about dispositive issues such as the competitive effect of a business practice or the relevant boundaries of a market. And the Supreme Court has encouraged-even …

Trolling For Standards: How Courts And The Administrative State Can Help Deter Patent Holdup And Promote Innovation, Niels J. Melius

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

Antitrust law and patent law share the common goal of improving economic welfare by facilitating competition and innovation. But these legal fields conflict when baseless claims of patent infringement disrupt the competitive process. In its eBay decision, the Supreme Court muddied the precedential waters by promulgating a vague doctrine of injunctive relief in patent infringement cases. In the years since, a split has emerged in the district courts on the question of which entities generally qualify for injunctive relief as an additional remedy to damages. This uncertainty has failed to mitigate an antitrust phenomenon known as "patent holdup," whereby an …

The Firm As Cartel Manager, Herbert Hovenkamp, Christopher R. Leslie

Vanderbilt Law Review

Antitrust law is the primary legal obstacle to price fixing, which is condemned by Section One of the Sherman Act. Section One condemns only concerted action between separate entities, not unilateral conduct by a single entity. Firms that engage in price fixing may try to reduce the risk of antitrust liability by structuring their actions to appear to be those of a unified single entity that is beyond the reach of Section One.

In this Article, Professors Hovenkamp and Leslie examine how price-fixing cartels govern themselves and maximize their profits by cooperating and colluding, instead of competing. They then use …

Political Bargaining And Judicial Intervention In Constitutional And Antitrust Federalism, Jim Rossi

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

Federal judicial deference to state and local regulation is at the center of contentious debates regarding the implementation of competition policy. This Article invokes a political process bargaining framework to develop a principled approach for addressing the appropriate level of judicial intervention under the dormant commerce clause and state action immunity from antitrust enforcement. Using illustrations from network industries, it is argued that, at core, these two independent doctrines share a common concern with political (not only market) failure by focusing on the incentives faced by powerful stakeholders in state and local lawmaking. More important, they share the common purpose …

Upon Further Review: Why The Nfl May Not Be Free After Clarett, And Why Professional Sports May Be Free From Antitrust Law, Darren W. Dummit

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

This note begins by reviewing the Jewel Tea line of cases that theoretically serve as the starting point for any non-statutory exemption discussion, followed by brief overviews of the contrasting Wood and Mackey lines of cases. The background section then turns to a summary of Brown--the latest Supreme Court decision relating to the collective bargaining process in professional sports--followed by a brief discussion of the NFL eligibility rule and how it differs from the recently-enacted NBA eligibility rule, which is of unquestioned legality. Finally, both the District Court and Court of Appeals decisions in Clarett are summarized.

The analysis begins …

Moving Public Law Out Of The Deference Trap In Regulated Industries, Jim Rossi

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

This Article argues that public law has fallen into what I call a deference trap in addressing conflicts in deregulated industries, such as telecommunications and electric power. The deference trap describes a judicial reluctance to intervene in disputes involving political institutions, such as regulatory agencies and states. By reassessing the deference trap across the legal doctrines that are effecting emerging telecommunications and electric power markets, public law can deliver much more for deregulated markets. The deference trap poses a particular cost as markets are deregulated, one that may not have been present during previous regulatory eras in which public and …

Bringing Down A Giant: The Monopoly Of Music Television, Margaret Brown

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

This note details a history of Viacom, MTV and the dispute with Soul Train; explores some key aspects of antitrust law; applies this law to the facts of the Viacom case; and asks the courts to evaluate non-compete agreements under a different standard in the context of the music industry.

Anticompetitive Practices In Great Britain: Expanded Enforcement Under The Competition Act 1980, Carol B. Swanson

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The current antitrust laws are scattered among numerous statutory provisions. The British approach to antitrust laws is expressed in separate attacks on restrictive practices as opposed to broad attacks on monopolies and mergers. Restrictive agreements are controlled through a public registration process and reviewed by a specially-created court. Resale price maintenance is banned through similar procedures. Monopolies and mergers are investigated differently, with entire market sectors referred to a commission especially designed to determine whether a monopoly or merger operates against the public interest. This overall statutory structure is both too narrow, and too broad. It is too limited because …

Bibliography: The Extraterritorial Application Of United States Antitrust Laws: A Selective Bibliography, Howard A. Hood

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Those who have commented on the Webb-Pomerene Act can be divided into two groups: (1) those who support the Act and would retain it or even expand its scope; and (2) those who oppose the Act and would repeal or weaken it. The first group believes that application of the antitrust laws to the foreign activities of United States companies impairs their ability to compete in the world market. The second group rejects this contention and considers the Webb-Pomerene Act to be unjustifiably inconsistent with the legal framework of free competition...

This bibliography presents selected citations to the literature of …

Economic Analysis And Antitrust Law, Thomas D. Morgan

Vanderbilt Law Review

Economic Analysis and Antitrust Law by Terry Calvani and John Siegfried

Professors Calvani and Siegfried have collected, in less than four hundred pages, an extraordinarily useful set of articles providing general information about antitrust economic issues. Some of the articles are classics in the field, while some challenge the existing wisdom. One might have wished for somewhat greater coverage of issues involving vertical relationships, and indeed a separate volume might even have been appropriate on those subjects. The choices made, however, were basically sound, and the editing is both intelligent and useful. This collection could be profitably assigned and used …

Tying Arrangements And The Individual Coercion Doctrine, W. Perry Brandt

Vanderbilt Law Review

At the present time the Individual Coercion Doctrine appears strengthened by the Third Circuit's ruling in Ungar and the Supreme Court's denial of certiorari in that case. Nevertheless, detailed analysis of the Doctrine demonstrates that despite the Doctrine's rather lengthy development, it is inconsistent with the basic legal principles of the law of tying as well as the more general purposes of the antitrust laws. The courts should again undertake a critical analysis of the Doctrine and, as the district court did in Ungar, remove coercion as an independent requirement of tying law.Perhaps in the near future as a result …

Recent Cases, Laurence M. Hamric, William G. Scott, Mitchell M. Purvis, George M. Kryder, Iii, Richard M. Pitt

Vanderbilt Law Review

Laurence M. Hamric

The instant decision demonstrates the inability of the Court, on its own or with the meager guidance provided by Congress, to discern a clear standard by which to measure the propriety of union organizational activity in light of current federal labor and antitrust law. Faced with a fact pattern that did not embody an apparent anticompetitive intent, a classic conspiracy between labor and non-labor entities, or activity clearly unrelated to the legitimate union interest in achieving better wages and working conditions, the Court was forced to abandon the "clear showing" test of Pennington," the"intimately related" test of …

Recent Cases, Journal Staff

Vanderbilt Law Review

Antitrust Law--Robinson-Patman Act--To Satisfy the "In Commerce" Requirement of Section 2(a) at Least One of the Allegedly Discriminatory Sales in a Secondary-Line Case Must Cross a State Line

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Constitutional Law--Equal Protection--Exclusion of Pregnancy-Related Disabilities from State Salary Compensation Insurance Program Denies Equal Protection to Pregnant Employees

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Criminal Procedure--Grand Juries--Exclusionary Rule in Search and Seizure Cases Does Not Apply to Grand Jury Proceedings

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Securities Regulation-Rule 10b-5--Plaintiffs Who Are Neither Purchasers nor Sellers of Securities May Recover Under Rule 10b-5 if Injured in Their Capacity as Investors as a Direct Consequence of Fraud in Connection with a Securities Transaction …

Recent Cases, Law Review Staff

Vanderbilt Law Review

Antitrust Law--Restraint of Trade--Applicability of Section 7 of Clayton Act to Bank Mergers

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Constitutional Law--Appointment of Counsel for Indigent Defendants in State Criminal Trials

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Constitutional Law--Civil Rights--State Action--Effect of Standard Urban Redevelopment Land Use Covenant

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Constitutional Law--Free Exercise of Religion--Denial of Unemployment Compensation to Seventh-Day Adventist

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Constitutional Law--Self Incrimination--Effect of a Defendant's Comment on His Codefendant's Silence

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Labor Law--Ability of Individual Employee To Bring Suit Under Section 301 of Taft-Hartley Act

Recent Cases, Law Review Staff

Vanderbilt Law Review

Administrative Law--Due Process--Expulsion From Public University Requires Notice and Hearing

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Antitrust Law--Investigatory Powers--Federal Trade Commission Has Right To Obtain Private Copies Of Privileged Census Information

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Constitutional Law--Due Process-Escheat By One State of a Fund Claimed By Other States Held To Violate Due Process

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Sales--Warranty--Advertisement That Cigarettes Are Harmless Held An Express Warranty

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Taxation--Income Tax-Deferral Of Prepaid Income Disallowed

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Taxation--Inheritance, Estate and Gift Taxes--Blockage Rule Rejected in Evaluating Stock For Ohio Succession Tax

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Taxation--Use Tax--Commerce and Equal Protection Clauses--Discrimination Against Multi-State Business

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Torts--Negligence--Vendor of Alcoholic Beverages Held Liable for Injuries to Intoxicated Vendee Despite …

Recent Cases, Law Review Staff

Vanderbilt Law Review

Antitrust Law--Restraint of Trade-Supreme Court Suggests A New Reading of Section 3 of the Clayton Act

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Civil Rights--Abatement and Revival--State Survival and Wrongful Death Statutes Adopted in Federal Civil Rights Act Suits

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Constitutional Law--Tenth Amendment-the Estate of A Veteran Dying Intestate Without Heirs May Constitutionally Escheat to the Federal Rather Than State Government

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Due Process of Law--A State May Deny An Applicant Admission to the Bar for Refusing To Answer Questions About His Advocacy of Subversive Organizations Or Objectives

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Federal Courts--State Security for Expenses Statute Inapplicable in Federal Equity Action Under Securities Exchange Act

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Federal …

For H.R. Ii And S. Ii To Strengthen The Robinson-Patman Act And Amend The Antitrust Law Prohibiting Price Discrimination, Wright Patman M.C.

Vanderbilt Law Review

H. R. 11 and S. 11 are modest and simple legislative proposals.'They provide for no change in our antitrust laws prohibiting price discrimination except to limit somewhat the use of the "good faith" defense. The extent of this limitation goes no further than to assist the Act by providing that the "good faith" defense shall not operate as an absolute and complete bar to a proceeding by the Government against the practices of destructive price discrimination: In other words, those discriminations which would have the effect of substantially lessening competition and tending to create a monopoly may not be defended …

The Lawyer's Role Before Litigation, Lee Loevinger

Vanderbilt Law Review

A lawyer is consulted regarding antitrust aspects of proposed business activities; or regarding the possibility that his client may have a cause of action under some antitrust law. What is his role at this stage? What are his responsibilities? Would these be substantially different if the client's problems had no antitrust element?

The system of formulating legal principles and studying and teaching law on the basis of the decisions of litigated cases has one serious shortcoming, at least, in its tendency to obscure the dual role of the lawyer: first as counsel, and second as advocate. Both lawyers and laymen …