Tag Archives: FTC Act

BakerHostetler Partners Publish Article Examining Reverse-Payment Suits Five Years After Actavis

Partners Carl Hittinger and Jeffry Duffy authored an article published by The Legal Intelligencer on July 27, 2018. The article, “Actavis and Reverse-Payments Suits in the Third Circuit After Five Years,” examines how purportedly anticompetitive patent-litigation settlement agreements between rival branded and generic pharmaceutical manufacturers—so-called “reverse payment” or “pay for delay” settlements—have generated numerous private lawsuits and remain one … Continue Reading

BakerHostetler Antitrust Lawyer Reviews Unusual Incentive Payment/Failing Firm Defense Remedy in Recent Hospital Merger

By BakerHostetler on November 17, 2016 Posted in Articles, FTC, FTC Act, Government Investigations, Healthcare, Merger Review

Antitrust Partner Danyll W. Foix wrote an article, published November 17, 2016 by Law360, reviewing the Federal Trade Commission’s acceptance of an unusual settlement for a challenged hospital merger, explaining that “the settlement ends the FTC’s challenge of a transaction that was too small to be reportable under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act, and the settlement is … Continue Reading

FTC Takes Action to Block Hospital Mergers

By Carl Hittinger and Tyson Herrold on November 16, 2016 Posted in Healthcare, Merger Review

In the 1990s, Federal Trade Commission (FTC) enforcement actions to block mergers between health care providers were a rare phenomenon successfully obtained. In many instances, state Attorneys General filled the role of watchdog, especially since hospital mergers were relatively small and implicated local markets. Many, like the Pennsylvania Attorney General, were unable to convince the … Continue Reading

FTC Accepts Practical ‘Failing Firm’ Defense in Ending Challenge of Nonreportable Transaction

By Danyll Foix on October 18, 2016 Posted in Healthcare, Merger Review, Premerger Notification

The Federal Trade Commission’s recently announced proposed settlement of its challenge of CentraCare Health’s acquisition of St. Cloud Medical Group (SCMG) is doubly noteworthy. The settlement ends the challenge of a transaction that apparently was not reportable under the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Act, and the settlement is premised on a “failing firm” defense that infrequently is … Continue Reading

Forcing Exclusivity on Your Customers May Not Be the Best Competitive Response

By Jonathan Lewis on May 3, 2016 Posted in FTC Act, Sherman Act 5

In the words of the director of the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC’s) Bureau of Competition, the recent enforcement against Invibio, Inc., the first company to sell implant-grade polyetheretherketone, known as PEEK, to medical device makers, “affirms that the first company to enter a market cannot rely on anticompetitive contract terms to lock up customers and … Continue Reading

Specific Guidance to Businesses Still Lacking in FTC Principles

By Carl Hittinger and Mitchell Oates on August 31, 2015 Posted in FTC Act

In 1914, Congress passed the FTC Act, creating the Federal Trade Commission. Section 5 of the FTC Act declared “unfair methods of competition in or affecting commerce” to be unlawful and gave the FTC enforcement power over such “unfair methods.” Over 100 years later, that key language in Section 5 underlying the agency’s competition-related powers … Continue Reading

FTC Finally Offers ‘Principles’ Governing Section 5 Powers, but Specific Guidance to Businesses Still Lacking

By Carl Hittinger on August 26, 2015 Posted in FTC Act

In 1914, Congress passed the FTC Act, creating the Federal Trade Commission. Section 5 of the FTC Act declared “unfair methods of competition in or affecting commerce” to be unlawful and gave the FTC enforcement power over such “unfair methods.” More than 100 years later, that key language in Section 5 underlying the agency’s competition-related … Continue Reading

BakerHostetler Releases White Paper on FTC Act Section 5 Symposium

By BakerHostetler on April 14, 2015 Posted in BakerHostetler, Events, Sherman Act 5

BakerHostetler’s Antitrust and Competition team is delighted to share with you a white paper we prepared highlighting points of interest from the February 26, 2015 Symposium we hosted on Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act. We hope you enjoy the white paper’s insider perspective on interpretation and enforcement of Section 5. Below is … Continue Reading