Continuing the government’s antitrust enforcement campaign against the tech industry, the DOJ Antitrust Division, along with 16 states, today sued Apple Inc., in federal court in New Jersey, making sweeping allegations of a widespread scheme to monopolize the market for smartphones in the United States. Specifically, the government plaintiffs allege that Apple violated Section 2 of the Sherman Act as well as Wisconsin and New Jersey state antitrust laws. With this lawsuit, the U.S. antitrust agencies now have pending monopolization actions against all four “big tech” companies: Apple, Google, Meta and Amazon.
The complaint alleges that Apple has a monopoly in two markets, the “smartphone” market and the narrower “performance smartphone” market, and that it has maintained its monopoly in both markets by anti-competitive restrictions on app developers and potential rivals. According to the complaint, these restrictions have allowed Apple to “extract higher fees, thwart innovation, offer a less secure or degraded user experience, and throttle competitive alternatives.”
Like the other government cases against the tech industry, this case promises to be a long drawn-out battle.
White House Announces New Strike Force on Unfair and Illegal Pricing
The federal government is taking a more aggressive approach to lowering prices and costs for American consumers. On March 5, 2024, President Joseph Biden announced a new Strike Force on Unfair and Illegal Pricing co-chaired by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The strike force is yet another attempt by the federal government to implement the president’s July 2021 Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy.
FTC and DOJ Issue Highly Anticipated Merger Guidelines
On December 18, 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) jointly issued new Merger Guidelines. The new guidelines amend, update and replace the numerous versions of merger guidelines previously issued by both agencies, including the 2010 Horizontal Merger Guidelines and the Vertical Merger Guidelines that were issued in 2020 and later withdrawn by the FTC in 2021. Below are our key takeaways, followed by some discussion of how the agencies apply the guidelines and then a deeper-dive into some industry-specific considerations.
FTC, DOJ and HHS Promoting Competition in Healthcare Industry
On December 7, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission announced that it, the Department of Justice and the Department of Health and Human Services are collaborating to promote competition, lower healthcare costs and improve the quality and availability of healthcare.
What’s Next for Antitrust Enforcement After DOJ’s No-Poach Prosecution Dismissed?
On November 15, 2023, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas granted a motion by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to dismiss indictments in its last remaining criminal no-poach antitrust case, United States of America v. Surgical Care Affiliates, LLC, et al., No. 3:21-cr-00011-L (N.D. Tex. Nov. 15, 2023). The government’s voluntary dismissal of the case—the first criminal no-poach indictment brought by the DOJ in early 2021—could signify the beginning and end of DOJ’s quest to enforce no-poach agreements as per se violations of the Sherman Act.