Ninth Circuit’s decision in hiQ Labs, Inc. v. LinkedIn Corp. has major antitrust implications

In hiQ Labs, Inc. v. LinkedIn Corp., No. 17-16783, 2019 WL 4251889 (9th Cir. Sept. 9, 2019), a Ninth Circuit panel affirmed the district court’s grant of a preliminary injunction in favor of hiQ, which prohibited LinkedIn from denying access to publicly available data on LinkedIn profiles. The Ninth Circuit declares that selectively banning potential competitors from accessing and using public data “may well be considered unfair competition under California law.” This decision that could have broad implications for the role of antitrust laws in the privacy sphere. Our Antitrust and IP, Tech & Data teams explain what you need to know in our recent alert.