April 2025
Antitrust Litigation - Google AdTech - Monopolization
Leonie Brinkema of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia ruled that Google has illegally monopolized key parts of the online advertising technology market. The ruling allows the Department of Justice to seek remedies, including the potential breakup of Google’s ad tech business.
The DOJ has specifically suggested that Google should be required to divest its Google Ad Manager, which includes the DoubleClick for Publishers (DFP) ad server and the AdX ad exchange.
Antitrust - Merger Control - Illinois "Baby" HSR Law
Effective January 1, 2024, Illinois amended its Antitrust Act to require healthcare facilities and provider organizations to notify the Illinois Attorney General (AG) at least 30 days before closing certain mergers, acquisitions, or contracting affiliations. Illinois is part of a broader movement among states to increase oversight of healthcare consolidation. States such as California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, Oregon, and Washington have enacted similar laws, each with its own thresholds, timing, and penalties.
Copyright Policy - Artificial Intelligence - Enforcement
The U.S. Copyright Office published the work of an ad hoc committee of economic scholars on the intersection of artificial intelligence (generative AI) and copyright policy. The volume sheds some light on the impact of generative AI and tries to strike a balance between the relative magnitude of the value created and the value displaced by generative AI in the product market.
Antitrust Investigation - End of Life Vehicle Market - Cartel
The European Commission has imposed fines totaling approximately €458 million for a cartel between 15 major car manufacturers and the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA). Mercedes-Benz received full immunity for revealing the cartel and avoided fine of around €35 million. ACEA played a central role in facilitating the cartel by organizing numerous meetings and communications among the participating manufacturers.
Patent Insight - AI - European Patent Office - Patent Index 2024
Computer technology, encompassing areas like artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, and pattern recognition, emerged as the leading field, with 16,815 patent applications filed in 2024. The United States remained the leading country of origin for European patent applications, followed by Germany, Japan, the People's Republic of China, and the Republic of Korea.
March 2025
Antitrust Policy - Enforcement
The US Department of Justice's Antitrust Division has started on March 27, 2025, an Anticompetitive Regulations Task Force, to advocate for the removal of anticompetitive state and federal laws and regulations that undermine free market competition and harm consumers, workers and businesses.
Antitrust Litigation - Pharma - Generic Drug Entry - Patent Enforcement
German drugmaker Boehringer Ingelheim was accused in a federal lawsuit of improperly submitting patents to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to delay generic competition and inflate prices for its lung disease drugs Combivent Respimat and Spiriva Respimat. US District Judge Denise J. Casper said that plaintiffs failed to show that Boehringer’s patent litigation was objectively baseless.
Antitrust Litigation - Motorsports and Race Market - Exclusivity and Monopolization
Racing teams sued NASCAR before a North Carolina federal judge. They accused the league of monopolizing the race industry by using exclusivity provision that would prevent the teams from racing elsewhere. NASCAR counterclaimed that the teams organized a cartel not to engage in individual negotiations with the league, but according to the teams NASCAR has failed to show that an agreement between the teams occurred.
Intellectual Property Litigation - Trademark - Global Injunction
A U.S. District Court had issued a global injunction against McClary, a former member of the band "The Commodore", barring him from using the band's name. McClary, despite the global injunction, sought to register the name as a trademark in the UK. In ruling against McClary, the UK Intellectual Property Office, commented that McClary attempted to leverage the trademark claim to prevent competition from the band in the UK and the EU . McClary and his company, First Avenue Entertainment, were also ordered to pay legal costs of approximately $4,300.
Antitrust Litigation - Pharma - Generic Drug Entry - Pay for Delay
"A settlement between a drug company and a generic challenger is a "by object" abuse where payments can only be explained by the companies' "commercial interest" in not competing." Teva and Chevelon have been fined a total of 60 million euros. Opinion of AG Rantos, March 27, 2025.