On 17 January 2014 the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released the annual jurisdictional adjustments for premerger notification filings made pursuant to Section 7A of the Clayton Act, known as the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 (HSR Act), as well as for Section 8 of the Clayton Act. The new thresholds for HSR notification will become effective 30 days after publication in the Federal Register. The revisions to Section 8 will become effective upon publication…

One year since the filing of the lawsuit, and 18 months since the merger closed, a U.S. federal judge declared on 8 January 2014 that Bazaarvoice violated Section 7 of the Clayton Act by acquiring its main rival, PowerReviews. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) challenged the US$168 million deal even though PowerReviews was too small to require an HSR pre-merger notification filing with the federal antitrust enforcers. This week’s ruling by Judge William H.…

On 16 December 2013 the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that two nonprofit professional associations had agreed to eliminate provisions in their codes of ethics that limited competition among their members in order to settle litigation brought by the FTC. Click here to read the full alert.…

On 6 November 2013 the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced final changes to certain Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) rules regarding acquisitions of exclusive patent rights in the pharmaceutical industry. The revised rules, which apply only to transfers of pharmaceutical patent rights, will increase the number of licensing arrangements in the pharmaceutical industry that will be subject to the HSR Act’s pre-closing filing and waiting period requirements. Read more here.…

Thursday, 31 October 2013 7:00 PDT / 10:00 EDT / 14:00 GMT / 15:00 CET / 22:00 CST / 23:00 JST You are invited to a 60-minute webcast, featuring Hogan Lovells lawyers from Washington, D.C. and London, who will address recent critical developments in merger control. A particular focus will be on joint venture analyses that international companies should factor into their business decisions. The Obama Administration has challenged several high-profile mergers in recent months,…

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In anticipation of the shutdown by the U.S. federal government, which began early this morning, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) released contingency plans that detail the impact on all aspects of the agencies’ operations, including their review of mergers and acquisitions. The Bureau of Competition at the FTC will maintain a limited staff to accept and process new Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) filings. The agencies will then…