Practice Area Spotlight

Antitrust & Competition

Antitrust litigators use Midpage to research Sherman and Clayton Act claims, merger challenges, Robinson-Patman disputes, and FTC enforcement actions. The statutes, regulations, and case law behind that work are collected below.

Try free Schedule a demo

How Antitrust Lawyers Use Midpage

Browse to see how Midpage works through antitrust questions from real lawyers.

Two-Sided Markets After AmexHow have courts defined two-sided transaction markets after Ohio v. Amex? Collect decisions applying its framework outside payment networks.Antitrust Standing Under Clayton Act § 4Draft a brief section arguing plaintiff lacks antitrust standing under Clayton Act § 4, applying Associated General Contractors' remoteness factors. Use Midpage for case research.Puffery at the Motion-to-Dismiss StageFind cases dismissing advertising claims as non-actionable puffery at the motion-to-dismiss stage, and summarize the statement types courts found dispositive.Algorithmic Pricing & Section 1Find decisions addressing whether competitors' shared use of pricing algorithms constitutes Section 1 concerted action.FTC Endorsement GuidesUse Midpage to summarize the FTC's updated Endorsement Guides on influencer disclosures and material connections.Robinson-Patman EnforcementUse Midpage to summarize the FTC's renewed Robinson-Patman Act enforcement and draft a client alert on price-discrimination risk for tiered wholesale pricing.

Works as a standalone or plugin:Claude ChatGPT Perplexity

Core Antitrust Collections

The statutes, regulations, agency materials, and courts behind antitrust litigation.

The federal acts governing competition — restraints of trade, monopolization, mergers, price discrimination, and FTC enforcement — section by section.

Sherman Act § 1 — Restraints of trade Contracts, combinations, and conspiracies	15 U.S.C. § 1
Sherman Act § 2 — Monopolization Monopoly power and exclusionary conduct	15 U.S.C. § 2
Sherman Act § 3 — Territories & D.C. Restraints in territories and the District	15 U.S.C. § 3
Sherman Act § 6a — FTAIA Foreign trade antitrust improvements	15 U.S.C. § 6a
Clayton Act § 3 — Exclusive dealing & tying Conditional sales that may lessen competition	15 U.S.C. § 14
Clayton Act § 4 — Private damages Treble damages and antitrust injury	15 U.S.C. § 15
Clayton Act § 4C — Parens patriae State AG actions for consumers	15 U.S.C. § 15c
Clayton Act § 7 — Mergers & acquisitions Substantially lessening competition	15 U.S.C. § 18
Clayton Act § 7A — HSR Act Premerger notification and waiting periods	15 U.S.C. § 18a
Clayton Act § 8 — Interlocking directorates Competitor board overlaps	15 U.S.C. § 19
Clayton Act § 16 — Private injunctions Equitable relief for private parties	15 U.S.C. § 26
Robinson-Patman § 2 — Price discrimination Seller price differences among competing buyers	15 U.S.C. § 13
Robinson-Patman § 3 — Rebates & locality pricing Criminal prohibitions on certain discounts	15 U.S.C. § 13a
Robinson-Patman § 4 — Cooperatives Return of net earnings or surplus	15 U.S.C. § 13b
Nonprofit Institutions Act — Nonprofit exemption Purchases by schools, hospitals, and charities	15 U.S.C. § 13c
FTC Act § 5 — Unfair methods Unfair or deceptive acts and unfair competition	15 U.S.C. § 45
FTC Act § 13(b) — Injunctive relief FTC authority to seek injunctions	15 U.S.C. § 53(b)
ACPERA — Criminal leniency Damages limitation for cooperating defendants	15 U.S.C. § 7a

The CFR parts implementing FTC competition procedures, Hart-Scott-Rodino premerger review, and the FTC guides.

Part 2 — Investigations CIDs, subpoenas, and nonadjudicative process	16 CFR Part 2
Part 3 — Adjudicative proceedings Administrative litigation rules	16 CFR Part 3
Part 801 — Coverage & valuation Size-of-transaction and person tests	16 CFR Part 801
Part 802 — Exemptions Transactions exempt from HSR filing	16 CFR Part 802
Part 803 — Forms & fees Notification forms and filing fees	16 CFR Part 803
Part 240 — Fred Meyer Guides Promotional allowances and services under RPA	16 CFR Part 240
Part 255 — Endorsement Guides Influencer disclosures and material connections	16 CFR Part 255
Federal Register Rules DOJ and FTC antitrust, HSR, and advertising final and proposed rulemakings	1994–present

DOJ Antitrust Division enforcement policies, the joint DOJ–FTC Merger Guidelines, and FTC guidance and Part 3 adjudications.

DOJ Antitrust Division GuidanceComing soon Business review letters and leniency policy	Guidance
DOJ & FTC Merger Guidelines Horizontal and vertical merger analysis frameworks	Guidance
FTC Guidance Policy statements and staff advisory opinions	Guidance
FTC Administrative DecisionsComing soon Part 3 merger and competition adjudications	Decisions

The appellate, trial, and administrative forums where antitrust disputes are heard — from the Supreme Court to FTC Part 3 adjudication.

Appellate

U.S. Supreme Court; all 13 federal circuits; D.C. Circuit (merger and agency review); state supreme and appellate courts

Trial

U.S. District Courts — including D.D.C., N.D. Cal., S.D.N.Y., N.D. Ill., and E.D. Va., plus remaining federal district courts nationwide

Administrative

Federal Trade Commission (Part 3 adjudication); DOJ Antitrust Division enforcement actions

Browse all US laws and courts

Key Cases

The controlling authorities — linked to full text, treatment, and citing decisions in Midpage.

Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly

550 U.S. 544 (2007)|Treatment|History|Pleading

Section 1 conspiracy claims must plead plausible agreement — parallel conduct alone is not enough.

United States v. Grinnell Corp.

384 U.S. 563 (1966)|Treatment|History|Monopolization

The two-element test for § 2: monopoly power plus its willful acquisition or maintenance.

Brown Shoe Co. v. United States

370 U.S. 294 (1962)|Treatment|History|Mergers

The foundational § 7 framework for defining product and geographic markets in merger cases.

Associated Gen. Contractors v. Cal. State Council of Carpenters

459 U.S. 519 (1983)|Treatment|History|Standing

The remoteness factors that govern antitrust standing under Clayton Act § 4.

Ohio v. American Express Co.

585 U.S. 529 (2018)|Treatment|History|Rule of Reason

Two-sided transaction platforms require defining the market to include both sides.

NCAA v. Alston

594 U.S. 69 (2021)|Treatment|History|Rule of Reason

NCAA compensation limits get full rule-of-reason review — no antitrust immunity for amateurism.

FTC v. Qualcomm Inc.

969 F.3d 974 (9th Cir. 2020)|Treatment|History|Monopolization

No antitrust duty to deal with rivals absent the narrow Aspen Skiing exception; harm must be to competition, not competitors.

Epic Games, Inc. v. Apple, Inc.

67 F.4th 946 (9th Cir. 2023)|Treatment|History|Rule of Reason

Applied the three-step rule of reason to app-store restraints and upheld the anti-steering injunction.

Illumina, Inc. v. FTC

88 F.4th 1036 (5th Cir. 2023)|Treatment|History|Mergers

Vertical-merger challenge to Illumina/GRAIL — endorsed the FTC’s § 7 analysis while remanding on the rebuttal standard.

In re RealPage, Inc., Rental Software Antitrust Litig. (No. II)

709 F. Supp. 3d 478 (M.D. Tenn. 2023)|Treatment|History|Algorithmic Pricing

Hub-and-spoke § 1 claims survived where lessors pooled non-public data in a shared pricing algorithm.

United States v. American Airlines Group Inc.

121 F.4th 209 (1st Cir. 2024)|Treatment|History|Restraints

Affirmed that the American–JetBlue Northeast Alliance violated § 1 under the rule of reason.

United States v. Google LLC

747 F. Supp. 3d 1 (D.D.C. 2024)|Monopolization

Exclusive search-distribution agreements unlawfully maintained a monopoly under § 2.

Research antitrust law with Midpage.

No sales call. Two-week free trial.

Start free trial today