Every year the FTC brings hundreds of cases against individuals and companies for violating consumer protection and competition laws that the agency enforces. These cases can involve fraud, scams, identity theft, false advertising, privacy violations, anti-competitive behavior and more. The Legal Library has detailed information about cases we have brought in federal court or through our internal administrative process, called an adjudicative proceeding.
Computer Sciences Corporation, and Mynd Corporation
Final consent order permitted the acquisition of Mynd Corporation and required the divestiture of Mynd's Claims Outcome Advisor System to Insurance Services Office, Inc. Claims assessment systems are used by insurance companies to evaluate appropriate payments for claims of bodily injury and to evaluate return-to-work plans in workers compensation matters.
Valspar Corporation, The, In the Matter of
Final order permitted Valspar's acquisition of Lilly Industries, Inc., but requires Valspar to divest its mirror coatings business to Spraylet Corporation. Mirror coatings are applied to the back of a piece of glass in order to produce a mirror.
Glaxo Wellcome plc, and SmithKline Beecham plc, In the Matter of
Under terms of a final consent order settling charges stemming from the merger of SmithKline and Glaxo Wellcome plc, the parties agreed to divest pharmaceutical products in six markets: antiemetics; the antibiotic, ceftazidime; oral and intravenous antiviral drugs for the treatment of herpes; topical antiviral drugs for the treatment of genital herpes; and over-the-counter H-2 blocker acid relief products.
Novartis AG, AStraZeneca, PLC, and Syngenta AG, In the Matter of
The consent order permits the merger of Novartis and AstraZeneca PLC into a new Swiss company, Syngenta AG. The order requires Novartis to divest its worldwide foliar fungicide business (based on the strobilurin chemical class) to Bayer Ag; and requires AstraZeneca to divest its worldwide com herbicide business (based on the active ingredient acetochlor) to Dow AgroSciences LLC.
Tyco International, Ltd., In the Matter of
Tyco settled antitrust concerns relating to its acquisition of Mallinckrodt, Inc. Tyco agreed to divest its endotracheal tube business to Hudson RCI.
Agrium, Inc., and Union Oil Company of California and Unocal Corporation, In the Matter of
A consent order requires Agrium to divest a deepwater terminal near Portland, Oregon, an up water terminal in central Washington and other assets settling charges concerning its proposed acquisition of the nitrogen fertilizer business of Union Oil Company of California. Agrium and Unocal are the leading producers in the Northwest of nitrogen fertilizer – anhydrous ammonia, urea and UAN 32% solution – ingredients used for plant growth.
Manheim Auctions, Inc., Cox Enterprises, Inc., ADT Automotive Holdings, Inc., and Tyco International, Ltd
The consent order settles antitrust concerns stemming from the acquisition of ADT Automotive Holdings, Inc., the nation's third largest operator of wholesale motor vehicle auctions, by Manheim Auctions, the nation's leading operator of auctions. The complaint alleged that the proposed acquisition would substantially reduce competition among wholesale auction services in six geographic markets. In addition, the complaint alleges that Manheim's 1996 acquisition of its only rival in Phoenix resulted in a merger to monopoly in that market. The order requires Manheim to divest nine auctions in Kansas City, Missouri; Denver and Colorado Springs, Colorado; Atlanta, Georgia; San Francisco, California; Seattle, Washington; Tampa, Orlando and Daytona Beach, Florida; and Phoenix, Arizona.
Dominion Resources, Inc., and Consolidated Natural Gas Company
A final order permits Dominion's acquisition of Consolidated Natural Gas Company but requires the divestiture of Consolidated's Virginia Natural Gas, Inc. The complaint alleged that the merger would combine the dominant provider of electric power in Virginia with the primary distributor of natural gas in southeastern Virginia.
Universal Music & Video Distribution Corp.and UMG Recordings, Inc.
The FTC charged that five distributors of recorded music illegally required retailers to advertise compact discs at or above the minimum advertised price (MAP) set by the distribution company in exchange for substantial advertising payments for various types of media including television, radio, newspaper and signs and banners within the retailers own stores. Time-Warner Inc., Bertlesmann, Universal Music and Video Distribution Corporation and UMG Recordings, Inc., EMI Music Distribution, and Sony Music Entertainment represent approximately 85 percent of all CD’s purchased in the United States. According to the complaint, the MAP policies violated the antitrust laws in two respects. First, when considered together, the arrangements constitute practices that facilitate horizontal collusion among the distributors, and, when viewed individually, each distributor's arrangement constitutes an unreasonable vertical restraint of trade under the rule of reason. In separate settlements, each distributor agreed to stop linking promotional funds to the advertised prices of their retailer customers for the next seven years. For the next 13 years after that, each company was prohibited from conditioning promotional money on the prices contained in advertisements they do not pay for, or terminating relationships with any retailer based on that retailer's prices.
Pfizer Inc., and Warner-Lambert Company
Final consent order permits Pfizer’s merger with Warner-Lambert Company and requires divestitures in several pharmaceutical markets including: Pfizer’s RID brand of head lice treatment; Pfizer’s antidepressant drug, Celexa; Warner’s Cognex, a drug used in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease; and assets relating to the Epidermal Growth Factor receptor tryosine kinase inhibitor - drugs under development to treat solid cancerous tumors such as head and neck, non-small cell lung, breast, ovarian, pancreas and colorectal cancers.
Service Corporation International, In the Matter of
Service Corporation International divested the LaGrone Funeral Home, acquired in 1994, to settle charges that the acquisition gave Service Corporation a monopoly in the provision of funeral services in Roswell, New Mexico. The order also requires Service Corporation, for ten years, to obtain prior Commission approval before acquiring any funeral home serving Chaves County, New Mexico.
Colegio de Cirujanos Dentistas de Puerto Rico
The dental association with a membership of more than 1800 dentists practicing in Puerto Rico agreed not to encourage its members to enter into agreements that set or fixed the fees charged or terms and conditions under which dentists would deal with health insurance plans or other payers in an attempt to obtain higher reimbursement rates for dental services.
Ceridian Corporation, In the Matter of
A consent order requires Ceridian to grant licenses to new and existing firms that provide commercial credit cards (known as "trucking fleet-cards") used by over-the-road trucking companies to make purchases at retail locations. The order settles charges that Ceridian's consummated acquisitions of NTS Corporation and Trendar Corporation gave Ceridian the power to control the markets for the provision of trucking fleet cards and the systems used to read them at truck stops throughout the country.
Fidelity National Financial, Inc.
A consent order settled charges that Fidelity’s acquisition of Chicago Title Corporation would reduce competition for title information services in San Luis Obispo, Tehama, Napa, Merced, Yolo, and San Benito, California. The order requires the divestiture of title plants in each of the six areas.
VNU N.V
VNU N.V. settled antitrust concerns that its proposed acquisition of Nielsen Media Research, Inc. would restrict competition in the market for advertising expenditure measurement services in the United States. The order requires VNU to divest its Competitive Media Reporting division, the nation's largest supplier in the specialized market.
Abbott Laboratories, In the Matter of
Abbott and Geneva Pharmaceuticals settled charges that the two firms entered into an illegal agreement to stop the marketing and development of a competing generic drug. According to the complaint, Abbott, manufacturer of Hytrin – the brand name for terazosin HCL, a prescription drug used to treat hypertension and benign prostatic hyperplasia, entered into an agreement with Geneva Pharmaceuticals whereby Abbott would pay Geneva millions of dollars not to market a generic version of Hytrin. The orders bars Abbott and Geneva, among other things, from entering into agreements in which a generic company agrees with a manufacturer of a branded drug to delay or stop the production of a competing drug.
Texas Surgeons, P.A.; Austin Surgical Clinic Association, P.A.; Central Texas Surgical Associates, P.A.; Surgical Associates of Austin, P.A.; Austin Surgeons, P.L.L.C.; Bruce McDonald & Associates, P.L.L.C.; and Capital Surgeons Group, P.L.L.C
General surgeons and six competing general surgery practice groups in the Austin, Texas area settled charges that they collectively refused to deal with two health plans, forcing the plans to accept the surgeons’ demands to raise surgical rates.
Wisconsin Chiropractic Association, The, and Russell A. Leonard, In the Matter of
The Wisconsin Chiropractic Association and its executive director, Russell A. Leonard, settled charges that they conspired to fix the prices for chiropractic goods and services and to boycott third party payers in an attempt to obtain higher reimbursement rates for services and contracts in the La Crosse, Wisconsin area.
McCormick & Company, Inc.
McCormick & Company agreed to settle charges that it violated the Robinson-Patman Act when the firm charged some retailers higher net prices for its spice and seasoning products than it charged other retailers. According to the complaint, McCormick, the world’s largest spice company, offered its products to some retailers at substantial discounts using a variety of different discounting schemes, such as slotting allowances, free goods, off-invoice discounts and cash rebates. The order prohibits McCormick from engaging in price discrimination and from selling its products to any purchaser at a net price higher than McCormick charged the purchaser’s competitor.