Steven J. Cernak

Who would have thought that ductile iron pipe fittings would make for such an interesting antitrust case?  While the product might be prosaic, the convoluted facts of the McWane v. FTC case in the…

Antitrust law debates usually emphasize price effects while other elements of competition get less attention.  Three recent writings by leading antitrust thinkers, however, explore the interaction…

On October 14, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in North Carolina Board of Dental Examiners v. FTC, the latest in its long line of cases interpreting the state action exemption to the…

Bundled discounts are common marketing schemes that normally benefit consumers and competition; however, courts and commentators have found certain circumstances when they might be illegal…

On June 23, 2014, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice Antitrust Division held a workshop on “conditional pricing practices”—loyalty discounts, bundled discounts and similar…

You remember American Needle, right?  It is the 2010 U.S. Supreme Court opinion that explains when the action of a joint venture is the action of a single entity or, instead, the result of an…

Commissioner Josh Wright of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission certainly is the gift that keeps on giving to antitrust commentators.  Rarely do many weeks go by without a Wright speech or dissenting…

Back in September 2012, the potential anticompetitive aspects of most favored nation (MFN) clauses was the hot antitrust topic.  While antitrust counselors (and courts) had found the clauses to be…

The Federal Trade Commission is meant to be, and is, an expert body on antitrust laws.  So, when a case like McWane—that raises both collusion and exclusion issues—is in front of the FTC, it seems…