Author: Luis Blanquez The first part of this article discussed the Dai v. SAS Inst. Inc case, where plaintiffs alleged the inference of a horizontal agreement by the group of Hotel Operators using IDeaS’s software. There, the Northern District of California again confirmed the difficult standard for algorithmic pricing at…
Author: Aaron Gott In my last post, I discussed how California’s newly enacted AB 1340—which allows independent contractor gig drivers to form a “union” and engage in sectoral bargaining against rideshare companies such as Uber and Lyft—likely does not provide the federal antitrust immunity that it purports to provide. This…
Author: Aaron Gott California Governor Gavin Newsom recently signed AB 1340 into law, a bill that purports to give more than 800,000 California rideshare drivers the right to unionize and bargain collectively over pay and working conditions. Some are celebrating the statute as a political and policy breakthrough. In press…
Author: Luis Blanquez Summer is over and everyone is back at the office. If you’ve been enjoying some days off, you’ve probably missed what happened recently in the algorithmic-pricing space in the US. And, as always, we had a very busy summer here. First, there is a new case from…
Author: Ruth Glaeser The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals reversed an injunction that would have allowed University of Wisconsin–Madison football player Nyzier Fourqurean to play a fifth season, ruling that his antitrust allegations failed to clearly define the relevant market. Background from the Seventh Circuit’s Opinion UW-Madison footballer Nyzier Fourqurean…
Author: Steven Cernak On July 11, the Department of Justice Antitrust Division filed a Statement of Interest in a private lawsuit alleging anticompetitive collusion among defendants like The Washington Post and with non-defendants like X to suppress certain views on COVID and U.S. politics. DOJ’s move generated unpleasant surprise among…
Authors: Jack Prindle and Steve Cernak Note: Jack Prindle is a student at the University of Virginia School of Law joining Bona Law for the summer. The DOJ’s Antitrust Division would like to remind everyone that it will not be going anywhere. Despite expectations in some quarters of laxness surrounding…
Author: Steven Cernak Last week, the FTC voluntarily dismissed its Robinson-Patman Act case against Pepsi that it filed in January. The dismissal and the Commissioner statements accompanying it hinted that the FTC’s determination to revive Robinson-Patman will not be as strong in the Trump Administration. Short and Recent History of…
Author: Luis Blanquez In simple terms algorithmic pricing takes place when competitors make use of a software platform to share competitively sensitive information, which the pricing algorithm uses to recommend prices for all users. Algorithmic pricing has been in the antitrust spotlight over the past few years. The FTC has…
Authors: Pat Pascarella and Aaron Gott The idea of Elon Musk purchasing TikTok might sound like a headline ripped from a speculative business column, and maybe it is. But as antitrust lawyers, we couldn’t resist. Obviously, Mr. Musk already owns X, and any such acquisition might raise antitrust concerns. But…