Emily Townsend
Subscribe to Emily Townsend's PostsObtaining Legal Advice is Not a Shield Against Fines for Infringement of EU Competition Rules
By Emily Townsend on Jun 26, 2013
Posted In Cartel Enforcement, EC Developments
by Philipp Werner and Aiste Slezeviciute On 18 June 2013, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) held that a company that infringed EU competition rules will not escape a fine even if it can claim that it relied on advice given by a legal adviser on the compatibility of its behaviour with...
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$720,000 Civil Penalty for Failure to File HSR
By Emily Townsend on Jun 21, 2013
Posted In DOJ Developments, FTC Developments, Mergers & Acquisitions
by Carla A. R. Hine Today the Department of Justice (DOJ), on behalf of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), announced a settlement with MacAndrews & Forbes for failing to file Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) in connection with the acquisition of voting securities of Scientific Games (SG). MacAndrews & Forbes, which is a wholly-owned holding company of Ronald...
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FTC Commissioner Wright’s Policy Statement Proposes Section 5 Limitations
By Emily Townsend on Jun 20, 2013
Posted In FTC Developments, Monopolization/Abuse of Dominance
by Michelle Lowery On June 19, 2013, Commissioner Joshua Wright of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) proposed a Policy Statement on the FTC’s enforcement authority under Section 5 of the FTC Act, which prohibits unfair methods of competition. According to Commissioner Wright, the intent of his proposed Policy Statement is to initiate a discussion on...
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U.S. International Trade Commission Grants Injunctive Relief on Standard Essential Patent
By Emily Townsend on Jun 19, 2013
Posted In IP Antitrust
by William Diaz and Lincoln Mayer The U.S. International Trade Commission has issued an exclusion order barring importation of certain older model Apple products for infringing a Samsung patent. The case is significant because the infringed patent was standard essential and encumbered by a commitment to license on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms. Patent holders...
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ACOs and Antitrust Are Aligned and Compatible, Says Commissioner Brill
By Emily Townsend on Jun 13, 2013
Posted In FTC Developments, Healthcare Antitrust, Joint Ventures/Competitor Collaboration, Mergers & Acquisitions
by Carrie G. Amezcua FTC Commissioner Julie Brill addressed attendees at the 2013 National Summit on Provider Market Power on June 11. The focus of her remarks were on the intersection of antitrust, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs). She first touched on the ACA. Noting the empirical evidence shows that...
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EU’s Top Court Rules That Blanket Ban on Access to Leniency Documents is not Permitted
By Emily Townsend on Jun 12, 2013
Posted In Cartel Enforcement
by Philipp Werner and David Henry The European Union’s top court rules that a national law which requires the consent of all parties before access to the file is given to third-party antitrust damages claimants is incompatible with EU law; a national court must be able to decide on disclosure weighing up the interests in...
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EU Commission Published Proposals for Private Antitrust Litigation
By Emily Townsend on Jun 12, 2013
Posted In EC Developments
by Lionel Lesur, Martina Maier and Philipp Werner On 11 June, the European Commission (“Commission”) published its long-awaited package of proposals on private antitrust litigation. The package is divided into three sets: (1) a Draft Directive on actions for damages (2) a Draft Recommendation on promoting group claims (3) and a Draft Communication and Draft...
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EU State Aid Investigation into German Renewable Energy Law
By Emily Townsend on Jun 11, 2013
Posted In EC Developments, Energy/Commodities, German Developments
by Martina Maier and Philipp Werner The European Commission (Commission) is likely to open a formal EU State aid investigation into the German Renewable Energy Source Act. According to the Commission, the Act may have given unlawful advantages to renewable energy producers and energy-intensive companies (those producing chemicals or steel) in Germany. Producers and companies that benefited...
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Italian Competition Authority Mandatory Fee Due by 31 July 2014
By Emily Townsend on Jun 10, 2013
Posted In Italian Developments
by Veronica Pinotti, Martino Sforza and Nicolò di Castelnuovo The Italian Competition Authority has decided that the 2014 mandatory annual fee due by limited companies based in Italy, that have total revenues exceeding EUR 50 million, will have to be paid by July 31, 2014, while for the current year no payment is due. Entities Subject to the...
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FTC Commissioner Wright Weighs In On Loyalty Discount Programs
By Emily Townsend on Jun 5, 2013
Posted In FTC Developments
by Daniel Powers In a recent speech, Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Commissioner Joshua Wright jumped into the debate over the proper approach for analyzing the potential anticompetitive effects of loyalty discount programs. Commissioner Wright signaled his strong preference for an approach based on exclusive dealing law rather than a framework rooted in a predatory pricing analysis. ...
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