Interested in training for your team? Click here to learn more

Bundled Discounts and Antitrust Compliance Amid Inconsistent Court Treatment and Heightened DOJ Scrutiny

Recording of a 90-minute CLE webinar with Q&A

This program is included with the Strafford CLE Pass. Click for more information.
This program is included with the Strafford All-Access Pass. Click for more information.

Conducted on Thursday, April 27, 2017

Recorded event now available

or call 1-800-926-7926

This CLE course will provide antitrust counsel with an examination of the Department of Justice methods for analyzing bundled discounts and the conditions that trigger investigations. The panel will also discuss the split among the federal circuits and best practices for steering clear of antitrust violations.

Description

The DOJ and the FTC continue their longstanding efforts to develop standards to review bundled discounts. The DOJ is pursuing an aggressive position toward what it considers to be competitive foreclosure.

The Eisai v. Sanofi-Aventis decision (3d Cir. May 2016) may muddy the waters regarding bundled discounts. The court provided some guidance on how companies with significant market share can use bundled discount programs under antitrust laws. However, while not answering the question, the court raised the issue of whether price-cost test is the test to be used for evaluating bundled discounts.

Counsel continue to struggle as they deal with inconsistent treatment by the federal courts and operate with unclear guidance due to the circuit court split (the Third Circuit’s LePage standard vs. the Ninth Circuit’s PeaceHealth standard).

Listen as our authoritative panel of antitrust attorneys examines the methods used by the DOJ in analyzing bundled discounts, discusses the conditions that determine which method is used, analyzes the split in the federal circuits, and offers best practices for avoiding antitrust violations.

READ MORE

Outline

  1. Impact and approaches to bundled discounts
    1. Anticompetitive impact of discounts
    2. Per se legality
    3. Raising rivals’ costs
  2. Split in the circuits
    1. 3d Circuit and LePage
    2. 9th Circuit Cascade Health v. PeaceHealth
    3. Other circuits’ and lower court decisions
    4. Agency action
  3. Best practices for avoiding antitrust violations

Benefits

The panel will review these and other key issues:

  • What business conduct is permissible in offering bundled discounts?
  • How does discounting a range of products put a company at risk of violating antitrust laws?
  • Which methods of analysis does the DOJ call for and what factors trigger when each is to be used?

Faculty

Lauren E. Battaglia, Esq.
Lauren E. Battaglia, Esq.
Hogan Lovells US
James J. Long
James J. Long
Shareholder
Briggs & Morgan

Mr. Long's litigation and counseling practice is concentrated in the areas of antitrust law, franchise law, and...  |  Read More

Michael B. Miller
Michael B. Miller
Partner
Morrison & Foerster

Mr. Miller's practice includes all aspects of complex antitrust and commercial litigation in federal and state...  |  Read More

Access Anytime, Anywhere

Strafford will process CLE credit for one person on each recording. All formats include course handouts.

To find out which recorded format will provide the best CLE option, select your state:

CLE On-Demand Video