Legal Library: Cases and Proceedings

The Federal Trade Commission will require The Boeing Company (Boeing) to divest significant Spirit AeroSystems Holdings, Inc. (Spirit) assets to resolve antitrust concerns surrounding Boeing’s $8.3 billion acquisition of Spirit.

On February 17, 2026, the FTC finalized the consent order in this matter.

The Federal Trade Commission issued an administrative complaint to block medical device supplier Edwards Lifesciences Corp.’s (Edwards) proposed acquisition of JenaValve Technology, Inc. (JenaValve) due to concerns that the acquisition would limit patient access to lifesaving medical devices used to treat a potentially fatal heart condition. On January 9, 2026, after a six-day trial, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia granted the FTC’s request for a preliminary injunction to temporarily prevent Edwards from acquiring JenaValve.

According to the FTC’s complaint, Rytr’s service generated detailed reviews that contained specific, often material details that had no relation to the user’s input, and these reviews almost certainly would be false for the users who copied them and published them online. In many cases, subscribers’ AI-generated reviews featured information that would deceive potential consumers who were using the reviews to make purchasing decisions. The complaint further alleges that at least some of Rytr’s subscribers used the service to produce hundreds, and in some cases tens of thousands, of reviews potentially containing false information.

The proposed order settling the Commission’s complaint is designed to prevent Rytr from engaging in similar illegal conduct in the future. It would bar the company from advertising, promoting, marketing, or selling any service dedicated to – or promoted as – generating consumer reviews or testimonials. 

On December 22, 2025, the FTC issued an order to reopen and set aside a 2024 final consent order involving Rytr LLC.

The FTC approved a proposed order banning SpyFone and its CEO Scott Zuckerman from the surveillance business over allegations that the stalkerware app company secretly harvested and shared data on people’s physical movements, phone use, and online activities through a hidden device hack.

The FTC denied a petition to vacate or modify the FTC’s 2021 order.

The Federal Trade Commission will require education technology provider Illuminate Education, Inc. to implement a data security program and delete unnecessary data to settle allegations that the company’s data security failures led to a major data breach.

The Federal Trade Commission issued an administrative complaint to challenge GTCR BC Holdings, LLC’s acquisition of Surmodics, Inc., alleging that the deal, which seeks to combine the two largest manufacturers of critical medical device coatings, is anticompetitive. The FTC charges that private equity firm GTCR’s proposed acquisition of Surmodics would create a combined company controlling more than 50% of the market for outsourced hydrophilic coatings. These coatings are often used by medical device manufacturers and are applied to lifesaving medical devices such as catheters and guidewires.

The Federal Trade Commission filed an amended complaint adding the states of Illinois and Minnesota as co-plaintiffs in the Commission’s lawsuit challenging GTCR BC Holdings, LLC’s (GTCR) acquisition of Surmodics, Inc. (Surmodics). The amended complaint also adds GTCR, LLC as an additional defendant in the case. 

The Federal Trade Commission will require Synopsys, Inc. and Ansys, Inc., under a proposed consent order, to divest certain assets to resolve antitrust concerns surrounding their $35 billion merger. The proposed consent order settles FTC allegations that Synopsys’s acquisition of Ansys is anticompetitive across three markets – optical software tools, photonic software tools for designing and simulating photonic devices, and RTL power consumption analysis tools. The FTC finalized the consent order on October 17, 2025.

On July 17, 2025, the FTC reopened and set aside the final consent order involving Exxon Mobil Corporation’s proposed acquisition of Pioneer Natural Resources Company.

The Federal Trade Commission took action to resolve antitrust concerns related to Chevron Corporation’s acquisition of rival oil producer Hess Corporation by approving a proposed consent order that would prohibit Chevron from appointing Hess CEO John B. Hess to its Board of Directors.

The FTC’s complaint alleges that Mr. Hess communicated publicly and privately with the past and current Secretaries General of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and an official from Saudi Arabia. In these communications, Mr. Hess stressed the importance of oil market stability and inventory management and encouraged these officials to take actions on these issues and speak about them at different events, the complaint alleges.

On July 17, 2025, the FTC reopened and set aside the final consent order involving Chevron Corporation’s proposed acquisition of Hess Corporation.