On March 5, 2020, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit heard argument on an appeal seeking to overturn judgment against contact lens distributor 1-800 Contacts (“1-800”) for antitrust violations relating to agreements with competitors on advertising keywords. This post follows our prior coverage of this matter, and is designed to highlight the

Andrew Bernasconi
FTC Eyes Contact Lens Trademark Settlement Agreements
By John P. Feldman & Andrew Bernasconi on
Over a spirited dissent, and in a 3-1 decision issued on November 14, the FTC Commissioners held that 1-800 Contacts violated Section 5 of the FTC Action by entering into settlement agreements with competitors that (1) harmed consumers in the online sale of contact lenses and (2) harmed search engines by artificially reducing the prices…
ALJ Affirms Antitrust Violations for Ad Tech Agreements in FTC v. 1-800 Contacts
Please see our recent write-up of the ALJ’s decision to affirm the finding in FTC v. 1-800 Contacts of antitrust violations in their ad tech agreements. You can find that write-up here.