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US Antitrust Case
After deflecting the US Justice Department's attack on its illegal monopoly in online search, Google is facing another attempt to dismantle its internet empire in a trial focused on its abusive tactics in digital advertising. The trial scheduled to begin Monday in an Alexandria, Virginia, federal court will revolve around the harmful conduct that resulted in US District Judge Leonie Brinkema declaring parts of Google's digital advertising technology to be an illegal monopoly. The judge found that Google has been engaging in behaviour that stifles competition to the detriment of online publishers that depend on the system for revenue. Google and the Justice Department will spend the next two weeks in court presenting evidence in a remedy trial that will culminate in Brinkema issuing a ruling on how to restore fair market conditions. Although the judge hasn't set a timetable for making that decision, it's unlikely to come down before the end of this year because additional legal brief
Sun Pharmaceutical Industries on Thursday said it has settled an antitrust litigation in the US entailing a payment of USD 200 million. The subsidiaries of the company, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, Inc. (SPII) and Taro Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc. have signed a settlement agreement with the End Purchaser Plaintiffs in the In re Generic Pharmaceuticals Pricing Antitrust Litigation in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, US, the Mumbai-based drugmaker said in a regulatory filing. "Under the terms of the settlement agreement, the subsidiaries will make an aggregate payment of USD 200 million in exchange for a full release of all claims asserted against them in the End Purchaser Action by the settlement class members," it added. The settlement amounts may be reduced if more than a certain percentage of the total insured class members opt out of the putative class, the company stated. The settlement agreement is subject to court approval, it added.
A federal judge on Monday rebuffed Apple's request to throw out a US government lawsuit alleging the technology trendsetter has built a maze of illegal barriers to protect the iPhone from competition and fatten its profit margins. The 33-page opinion from US District Judge Xavier Neals in New Jersey will enable an antitrust lawsuit that the US Justice Department filed against Apple 15 months ago to proceed. Neals has set a timetable that could see the case come to trial in 2027. Apple has sought to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing the Justice Department had distorted the contours of the smartphone market and made a series of other misinterpretations that warranted the case be thrown out. But Neals decided there is enough evidence to support the Justice Department's market definitions and concluded the case's key allegations merited further examination at trial. The case seeks to pierce the digital fortress that Apple Inc, based in Cupertino, California, has built around the iPhone, iP
The US Justice Department is doubling down on its attempt to break up Google by asking it to give up the underlying technology powering the company's digital ad network. The proposed remedy joins a separate federal effort to separate the Chrome browser from its dominant search engine. The government's latest proposal was filed late Monday in a Virginia federal court two-and-half weeks after a federal judge ruled that parts of its lucrative digital ad network have been improperly abusing its market power to stifle competition to the detriment of online publishers. In a 17-page filing, Justice Department lawyers argued that US District Judge Leonie Brinkema should punish Google by ordering the company to offload its AdX business and DFP ad platform, tools that bring together advertisers, who want to market their products, and publishers, who want to sell commercial space on their sites, to bring in revenue. Not surprisingly, it's an idea that Google vehemently plans to oppose when the
A federal judge on Friday delayed an order requiring Google to open up its Android app store to more competition until an appeals court decides whether to block the shake-up because of legal questions surrounding a jury's verdict that branded Google as an illegal monopolist. The delay granted during a court hearing in San Francisco comes less than two weeks after US District Judge James Donato issued a decision that would have forced Google to make sweeping changes to its Play Store for Android smartphones starting November 1. The mandated changes included a provision that would have required Google to make its library of more than 2 million Android apps available to any rivals that wanted access to the inventory and also distribute the alternative options in its own Play Store. Google requested Donato's order be stayed until the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals could examine the handling of a month-long trial that led to the December 2023 verdict, which framed the Play Store as an ..