At the American Bar Association’s recent antitrust meeting in Washington, D.C., the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Office of Policy and Coordination’s Deputy Assistant Director Synda Mark cautioned companies seeking to collaborate on environmental initiatives that they are not exempt from antitrust enforcement. Mark commented during a panel discussion that antitrust officials will not “turn a blind eye” to anticompetitive conduct, despite corporate promises of the environmental benefits of collaborative conduct, noting that the FTC works only to prevent economic harms and that environmental justice goals do not “seep into the antitrust analysis.” Read the full Alert on the Duane Morris website.
FTC Announces Crackdown on Deceptive AI Claims and Schemes
As part of its ongoing enforcement efforts against allegedly deceptive and misleading uses of artificial intelligence, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) disclosed five new enforcement actions on September 25, 2024, against companies across various industries that either allegedly made fraudulent claims about their AI resources or offered AI services that could be used in misleading or deceptive ways. Read the full Alert on the Duane Morris website.
Federal Court Stops the FTC Noncompete Rule from Being Enforced or Taking Effect
On August 20, 2024, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas, in the Ryan lawsuit, struck down a final Federal Trade Commission (FTC) rule―which was set to go into effect on September 4, 2024, and ban noncompetition agreements for virtually all U.S. workers―holding that the rule shall not be enforced by the FTC or take effect as to any workers or employers. Read the full Alert on the Duane Morris website.
FTC Votes to Ban Non-Compete Agreements
On April 23, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) voted 3-2 to approve a final rule banning non-competes with all workers 120 days after publication in the Federal Register, and invalidating existing non-competes with all workers except senior executives. Although the final rule abandons many aspects of the rule proposed in January 2023, the final rule represents a sea change in the law relating to non-compete clauses in the United States. Read the full Alert on the Duane Morris website.
FTC to Vote April 23 on Rule to Ban Noncompete Agreements
The Federal Trade Commission will vote at an open commission meeting to be held virtually on Tuesday, April 23, 2024, at 2:00 p.m. Eastern on its proposed rule banning employers from entering into noncompete agreements with workers. If issued, the final rule would go into effect 60 days following its publication in the Federal Register, and companies would have to be in compliance 180 days after publication. Read more on Duane Morris’ website.
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.
Guidance for Controlling Drug Prices
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has announced its support of the federal government’s use of “march-in rights” as a mechanism to control the price of pharmaceuticals. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) late last year issued its “Draft Interagency Guidance Framework for Considering the Exercise of March-In Rights” that would fundamentally change the use of march-in rights by allowing the government to exercise price control under the Bayh-Dole Act, which the FTC announced its support for last week. This shift is the latest effort by federal agencies to lower drug prices in the wake of President Joe Biden’s Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy.
Senator Echoes FTC’s Focus on Improper Listings and Anticompetition
In January, Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) sent letters to companies warning of improper Orange Book listings of patents for inhalers, following up on the FTC’s focus on potential anticompetitive harm of improper listings. According to Senator Baldwin’s letters, the recipients of the letters were warned by the FTC in November regarding the listing of inhaler patents, but have not removed the patents from the Orange Book. The letters follow an investigation launched earlier this month by the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (of which Senator Baldwin is a member) into the prices of inhalers.
Senator Calls on Inhaler Companies to Stop Unfair Practices
Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) sent letters on January 29 to companies warning of improper Orange Book listings of patents for inhalers, following up on the FTC’s focus on potential anticompetitive harm of improper listings.
GenAI and FTC Inquiries
The Federal Trade Commission announced on January 25 that it has begun an investigation into Generative AI investments and partnerships.