Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 9 of 9
Full-Text Articles in Law
Unilateral Effects: The Enforcement Act Under The Old Ec Merger Regulation, Claus-Dieter Ehlermann, Axel Gutermuth
Unilateral Effects: The Enforcement Act Under The Old Ec Merger Regulation, Claus-Dieter Ehlermann, Axel Gutermuth
Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr Antitrust Series
The reform of the EC Merger Regulation was preceded by an animated debate about whether the traditional "dominance" test allowed the Commission to challenge mergers that did not lead to single firm or collective dominance in the traditional sense, but nevertheless may have reduced competition to the detriment of consumers. The authors submit that the dominance test failed to reach such situations of "unilateral" or "non-coordinated" effects. The old Merger Regulation therefore suffered from a potential "enforcement gap" that was closed only by the legislative change to the "significant impediment of effective competition" test. National jurisdictions still using variants of …
Antitrust And Competition Law Update: Agencies Send A Strong Message On Hsr Filing, William J. Kolasky, Robert Bell, James W. Lowe, Leon Greenfield, A. Douglas Melamed, Veronica Kayne, Ali Stoeppelwerth, Janet Ridge
Antitrust And Competition Law Update: Agencies Send A Strong Message On Hsr Filing, William J. Kolasky, Robert Bell, James W. Lowe, Leon Greenfield, A. Douglas Melamed, Veronica Kayne, Ali Stoeppelwerth, Janet Ridge
Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr Antitrust Series
The Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division last week each announced enforcement actions against and settlements with parties that alleged failed to make required notifications of transactions under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, as amended. Each case resulted in a significant fine (one of $800,000 and one of $1 million) and signaled the agencies’ intent to pursue vigorously parties that fail -- intentionally or negligently -- to meet their obligations under the HSR Act. Moreover, both cases address the scope of the HSR Act’s “investment only” exemption and show that the agencies construe it strictly …
Trading And Distribution In China, Lester Ross, Kenneth Zhou
Trading And Distribution In China, Lester Ross, Kenneth Zhou
Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr Antitrust Series
Trading and distribution rights were major issues in the negotiation of China’s entry to the World Trade Organisation, a process which took 14 years before concluding in late 2001. Trading rights, i.e. the right to import and export goods, had historically been mainly restricted to a small number of largely sector-specific state-owned monopoly trading enterprises. Trading rights were modestly liberalised in the years preceding China’s entry, but generally remained tightly restricted.
“Start-Up Aid” For Low Cost Carriers– A Policy Perspective, Sven Völcker
“Start-Up Aid” For Low Cost Carriers– A Policy Perspective, Sven Völcker
Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr Antitrust Series
On 7 February 2005, the European Commission published draft “Community guidelines on the financing of airports and start-up aid to airlines departing from regional airports” for consultation. This article focuses on the Draft Guidelines’ statements on “start-up aid,” which seek to integrate the Commission’s statements in last year’s Charleroi decision into a consistent state aid policy framework. It is submitted here that such an attempt is highly problematic, given the absence of a coherent and objective justification for start-up aid in its proposed form. The Commission should not depart from its long-standing hostility to operating aid for reasons of perceived …
Oracle In Brussels, Christian Duvernoy, Sven Völcker
Oracle In Brussels, Christian Duvernoy, Sven Völcker
Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr Antitrust Series
It was hands across the water when both a U.S. district court and the European Commission cleared the $10.3 billion merger of Oracle and PeopleSoft. The Department of Justice, which had opposed the deal, had decided not to appeal its defeat in the San Francisco court, and it is thought that the Commission took this as a sign that U.S. regulators would not take it amiss if their European counterparts also let the merger proceed. In any event, there was none of the resentment and outrage that bubbled over not so long ago when U.S. antitrust authorities approved the GE/Honeywell …
Schering-Plough Corp. V. Federal Trade Commission: Eleventh Circuit Rejects The Ftc’S Position On “Reverse Payments” In Patent Suit Settlements, Ulrich Quack, James Burling, Claus-Dieter Ehlermann, John Ratliff, Suyong Kim, Douglas Melamed, William Kolasky
Schering-Plough Corp. V. Federal Trade Commission: Eleventh Circuit Rejects The Ftc’S Position On “Reverse Payments” In Patent Suit Settlements, Ulrich Quack, James Burling, Claus-Dieter Ehlermann, John Ratliff, Suyong Kim, Douglas Melamed, William Kolasky
Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr Antitrust Series
In recent years, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC” or the “Commission”) has investigated several settlement agreements between pioneer and generic drug manufacturers involving “reverse payments.” In the view of the FTC, reverse payments are cash that a pioneer drug manufacturer pays to a generic manufacturer who has challenged the patent(s) protecting the pioneer drug, in exchange for the generic manufacturer’s agreement to delay market entry. Such payments sometimes occur in the settlement of patent infringement actions. The Commission has been extremely skeptical of reverse payments, viewing them as objective indicia of intent to illegally share monopoly profits that the delayed …
Antitrust Enforcement: Four New Investigations Opened By The Agcm In The First Months Of 2005, Antonio Capobianco, Stefano Fratta
Antitrust Enforcement: Four New Investigations Opened By The Agcm In The First Months Of 2005, Antonio Capobianco, Stefano Fratta
Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr Antitrust Series
The first three months of this year have witnessed extensive enforcement activity by Italy’s Autorità Garante per la Concorrenza ed il Mercato (“AGCM”). In the closing 90 days of the chairmanship of Professor Tesauro, former Advocate General at the European Court of Justice, the AGCM initiated a number of investigations for infringement of EC competition rules in various key markets: natural gas, telecommunication services, pharmaceuticals and postal services. The cases reported below are of particular interest since they are the first examples of enforcement of EC competition rules by the AGCM in the new “modernised” system of European enforcement.
Spanish Competition Tribunal Rejects Price Squeeze Allegations In Relation To Mobile Vpn Services, Axel Desmedt, Pablo Charro
Spanish Competition Tribunal Rejects Price Squeeze Allegations In Relation To Mobile Vpn Services, Axel Desmedt, Pablo Charro
Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr Antitrust Series
On December 20 and 22, the Spanish Competition Tribunal (Tribunal de Defensa de la Competencia, or TDC) dismissed three actions that were brought by Uni2 and WorldCom (both alternative fixed operators) against the three Spanish mobile operators (Telefonica Moviles, Vodafone, and Amena) for abuse of a dominant position. The complaints alleged that the three mobile operators applied a price squeeze on the corporate market segment and discriminatory pricing practices as regards mobile termination services. In particular, according to Uni2 and WorldCom, during the period of 2000-2002, the three Spanish mobile operators offered retail services to corporate clients (including pricing terms …
Antitrust And Competition Law Update, Ulrich Quack, James Burling, Claus-Dieter Ehlermann, John Ratliff, Suyong Kim, Douglas Melamed, William Kolasky, Janet Durholz Ridge
Antitrust And Competition Law Update, Ulrich Quack, James Burling, Claus-Dieter Ehlermann, John Ratliff, Suyong Kim, Douglas Melamed, William Kolasky, Janet Durholz Ridge
Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr Antitrust Series
The US Federal Trade Commission(FTC) has announced sweeping changes to the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Act premerger reporting rules, including those governing transactions involving partnerships and LLCs, that will come into effect on April 6, 2005. See 70 Fed. Reg. 11526 (March 8, 2005). In addition to reconciling the HSR analysis of LLCs, partnerships and other unincorporated entities with that of corporations, the new rules will make a number of technical adjustments and codify some informal FTC interpretations. The changes will make some transactions reportable that have historically be exempt; this effect will be offset to some extent by new exemptions from …