On July 11, President Obama issued an Executive Order that directs independent regulatory agencies, including the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the Federal Trade Commission, the Federal Communications Commission, and the Securities and Exchange Commission, to take — as Director of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs Cass Sunstein stated in his White House blog […]

On July 7, the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division and the Federal Trade Commission announced that they “have made changes to reduce the filing burden and streamline the form parties must file when seeking antitrust clearance of proposed mergers and acquisitions under the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Act and the Premerger Notification Rules.” According to the Justice […]

On July 27, Assistant Attorney General Christine Varney of the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chairman Jon Leibowitz signed an antitrust memorandum of understanding (MOU) with China’s three antitrust agencies to promote communication and cooperation among the agencies in the two countries. The MOU sets out a two-part framework for […]

On June 17, the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice issued an updated Policy Guide to Merger Remedies. The Guide, which updates the Antitrust Division’s 2004 guidance, states that “it is intended to provide guidance to Antitrust Division staff in their work analyzing proposed remedies for mergers.” It includes material on key principles in […]

On July 7, an article on Law 360 reported that lntellectual property litigation increased in the first half of 2011 compared to the first half of 2010. Using data from Pacer, the electronic case data system for the federal courts, the article noted that while litigation across practice areas increased only slightly by about 1.3 […]

On July 6, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it is publishing a proposed rulemaking to adopt the oxides of nitrogen (NOx) emission standards approved by the United Nations’ International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) for aircraft gas turbine engines. Comments will be accepted for 60 days after the date that the proposal is published […]

On July 6, the vice-president and general manager of the Pelican Refinery in Lake Charles, Louisiana, pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana to federal negligent endangerment charges under the Clean Air Act. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office press release, the defendant, who oversaw operations at the Lake […]

The Penn Program on Regulation has just launched a new blog, RegBlog. Housed at Penn Law and staffed by law and graduate students from multiple schools at Penn, RegBlog provides regulatory news, analysis, and opinion. Contributors include staff members, scholars, practitioners, and others interested in regulatory developments. Anyone interested in contacting RegBlog should email the […]

On April 28, acccording to a notice by the Administrative Conference of the United States (ACUS), ACUS will hold a regulatory Workshop entitled, “Going Global – The Case for U.S. Regulatory Leadership on Trade and Enforcement.” The Workshop will take place at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, 1615 I Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. from 8:30 […]

The Administrative Conference of the United States (ACUS) has published its scheduled Committee public meetings in April. Upcoming public meetings include: – Committee on Administration and Management: Government Contractor EthicsMonday, April 18, 2011, from 2p.m. to 5 p.m. – Committee on Rulemaking: E-rulemaking—Legal IssuesWednesday, April 20, 2011, from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. – Committee […]

On March 8, the European Court of Justice issued an opinion that a proposal to create a European Patents Court was not compatible with the provisions of the European Union Treaty and the Functioning of the European Union (FEU) Treaty. In 2007, the European Commission had made various proposals to enhance the patent system in […]

On March 21, the National Journal published a column on lobbying reform by Eliza Newlin Carney that included a discussion of the ABA Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice Section’s Federal Lobbying Laws Task Force report and recommendations. This post was originally published on the legacy ABA Section of Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice Notice and […]

On March 8, the Federal Trade Commission issued the Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book for 2010. The Data Book, which includes data for consumer complaints that the FTC received in 2010, notes that for the 11th year in a row, identity theft was the leading category of consumer complaints received (250,854, constituting 19 percent of […]

On March 7, the Federal Trade Commission issued a report titled, “The Evolving IP Marketplace: Aligning Patent Notice and Remedies with Competition.” The report examines technology markets and patent markets and offers a competition perspective on patent notice and patent remedies (including how patent notice and remedies affect innovation and competition). This post was originally […]

On February 28, Sutherland Asbill & Brennan issued a press release announcing the results of their latest survey of Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) sanctions against broker-dealers and associated persons. In brief, the survey found that in 2010: – FINRA’s disciplinary actions increased from 1,158 to 1,310 — an increase of more than 13 percent […]