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Arctic Glacier and three of its executives have pleaded guilty to a criminal antitrust conspiracy in the market for packaged ice. The Department of Justice issued a press release on Tuesday announcing the plea agreement: Minneapolis Packaged-Ice Company Agrees to Plead Guilty to Customer Allocation Conspiracy Company Agrees to Pay $9 Million Criminal Fine WASHINGTON - A packaged-ice company, headquartered in St. Paul, Minn., has agreed to plead guilty and to pay a $9 million criminal fine for... Posted on October 13, 2009 at 06:23 pm by Daniel Low

On September 30, the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota largely denied News America's motion for summary judgment and granted Insignia Systems' motion for summary judgment on News America's counterclaims. Insignia had alleged that News America engaged in anticompetitive business practices in the market for in-store shelf advertising, while News America filed a number of counterclaims. News America had asked the Court to dismiss Insignia's claims on the grounds that the undisputed... Posted on October 4, 2009 at 04:30 pm by Daniel Low

The Department of Justice Antitrust Division filed a statement of interest Friday, available here, opposing the Google Books settlement. DOJ's filing addresses concerns that the settlement: (1) fails to satisfy Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23 (which governs class action lawsuits); (2) violates copyright law; and (3) violates antitrust law. DOJ's statement is a bit unusual in that it raises both antitrust and non-antitrust concerns; typically the DOJ's Antitrust Division confines public... Posted on September 20, 2009 at 02:32 am by Daniel Low

eBay announced on Thursday that it closed its sale of Skype. The buyer, who will control an approximately 70 percent stake, is an investor group led by Silver Lake and includes Joltid Limited and certain affiliated parties, the Canada Pension... Posted on November 20, 2009 at 10:29 pm by CorporateAcquisitions MergerLawBlogger

Here's a relatively recent empirical study of insider trading in India in advance of merger announcements, Merger Announcements and Insider Trading in India: An Empirical Investigation. Shorter version: insider trading is rampant. Don't be surprised. It's apparently rampant here. Why... Posted on November 20, 2009 at 10:06 am by CorporateAcquisitions MergerLawBlogger

On Tuesday the board of Barnes and Noble adopted a shareholder rights plan -- or a poison pill. From the board's announcement: The Board adopted the Rights Plan in response to the recent rapid accumulation of a significant portion of... Posted on November 19, 2009 at 12:54 am by CorporateAcquisitions MergerLawBlogger

/**/ It's been awhile since I last posted here, and for good reason. Going back to the summer of 2007 I've been developing an idea I've had about helping home buyers and sellers make more informed decisions when selecting a local real estate agent. Last month it came to fruition - AgentsCompared.com. Here's the text of our launch announcement: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Consumer-centric AgentsCompared.com Helps Prospective Chicagoland Home Buyers and Sellers Make More Informed Decisions When... Posted on August 3, 2009 at 07:46 am by MICHAEL H. ERDMAN

Here's a quick overview of the proposed Final Judgment ("PFJ") filed earlier today in USA v. National Association of Realtors. Note that before Judge Kennelly will consider and potentially enter the judgment, one or both parties will need to formally file a motion requesting same with the Court. For a period of ten years, the settlement would prohibit NAR from adopting, maintaining or enforcing any rule, or entering into or enforcing any agreement or practice, that directly or indirectly:... Posted on May 27, 2008 at 05:47 am by MICHAEL H. ERDMAN

A stipulation signed by attorneys for both parties and a proposed final judgment (not yet entered by Judge Kennelly) just appeared on the Court's online docket. Perhaps the July 7 trial, which was to last approximately a month, has been averted? Keep in mind that a final judgment and/or other dispositive order has not yet been entered by the Court. In a related filing today, the United States stated that it will be filing a motion for entry of the proposed Final Judgment. UPDATE: Read a summary... Posted on May 27, 2008 at 05:29 am by MICHAEL H. ERDMAN

Google now has a legal search engine. You first have to go to Google Scholar and then selected the "legal opinions and journals" option. I have only taken a quick look but a couple of quick thoughts: this is will be useful if you know the case name (or part of it). However, the inability to search for cases within a particular federal district court or circuit is an odd limitation (especially given the the ability to search for state cases by state). Other limitations: there is no indication if... Posted on November 19, 2009 at 08:44 am by David Fischer

Here are the slides for an upcoming talk on standard setting after Rambus, Broadcom (3rd. Cir.), Qualcomm (Fed. Cir.), and N-Data at the Advanced Patent Law Institute Conference in Palo Alto. Drop me a note if you are attending and would like me to address any other topics (offline, probably, the slot is only for 30 minutes). Share on Facebook Posted on November 17, 2009 at 09:31 am by Hanno Kaiser

Reuters reports: U.S. President Barack Obama has chosen Julie Brill, North Carolina's top consumer watchdog, and attorney Edith Ramirez to fill two vacant spots on the Federal Trade Commission, the White House said on Monday. &#xe2€&#xa6Brill became the senior deputy attorney general and chief of consumer protection and antitrust for the North Carolina Department of Justice in February 2009. Ramirez has represented corporations like Mattel Inc and Northrop Grumman Corp. &#xe2€&#xa6They would replace Republican... Posted on November 17, 2009 at 04:20 am by David Fischer

On October 28, 2009, the FTC approved Schering-Plough's $41.1 billion acquisition of Merck, on the condition that certain divestitures were made. On March 8, 2009, Schering-Plough proposed to acquire Merck and rename the surviving entity Merck. According to the FTC's complaint, Schering-Plough's acquisition of Merck would have reduced competition in a range of animal health markets in which the companies compete. The companies are two of the leading animal health suppliers in the United States,... Posted on October 29, 2009 at 07:56 am by dbmadmin

On October 14, 2009, the Federal Trade Commission ("FTC") settled with Pfizer Inc. regarding its proposed $68 billion acquisition of Wyeth. According to the FTC, the proposed transaction would have reduced competition in several U.S. markets for the manufacture and sale of animal vaccines and animal pharmaceutical products. Veterinarians and other animal health product customers could have seen the prices of these goods increase. Furthermore, the FTC believes that the entry of new competitors... Posted on October 14, 2009 at 12:31 pm by dbmadmin

On October 13, 2009, the Department of Justice ("DOJ") settled with AT&T Inc. ("AT&T") regarding its $944 million acquisition of Centennial Communications Corp. ("Centennial"). Specifically, AT&T is required to divest its assets in eight Cellular Marketing Areas ("CMA"), as defined by the Federal Communications Commission ("FCC"), in southwestern and central Louisiana and southwestern Mississippi in order for the transaction to be consummated. According to the DOJ, AT&T and... Posted on October 13, 2009 at 12:19 pm by dbmadmin