Will Diaz
Subscribe to Will Diaz's PostsWilliam (Will) Díaz litigates and counsels clients on antitrust cases, obtains Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Department of Justice clearance on mergers, and defends clients in government investigations. Will has significant experience in the interplay between the antitrust and intellectual property laws and the issues that crossover into both areas, including standard-setting activities, patent pools, fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) licensing issues and patent misuse. He also has handled numerous litigations and transactions in the biotech, pharmaceutical and medtech industries. Read William Díaz's full bio.
Anticompetitive Conduct in Biologics – An Enforcement Priority with FTC and FDA
By Jon B. Dubrow, Lisa P. Rumin and Will Diaz on Feb 4, 2020
Posted In Consumer Protection/Privacy, FTC Developments, Healthcare Antitrust
Today the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released joint guidance concerning competition for biologics, including biosimilars. The joint guidance seeks to enhance competition for biologics and reduce manufacturers’ use of false or misleading statements or promotional communications concerning the efficacy or safety of biosimilars and other biologics. This guidance...
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Recent Merger Reviews Demonstrate Increased FTC and DOJ Focus on Acquisitions of Nascent Competitors
By Jon B. Dubrow, Joel R. Grosberg, Matt Evola and Will Diaz on Jan 13, 2020
Posted In DOJ Developments, FTC Developments, Mergers & Acquisitions
Three recent antitrust merger reviews involving nascent competition demonstrate enforcers are paying close attention to acquisitions by industry leaders of emerging, but early-stage competitors. The US antitrust agencies have been criticized for allowing leading technology companies to extend their entrenched positions to multiple markets or technologies through acquisitions. We are now seeing regulators increasing their...
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FTC Ratchets up Scrutiny on Pharmaceutical Deals
By Jonathan Ende and Will Diaz on Oct 15, 2019
Posted In FTC Developments, Healthcare Antitrust
WHAT HAPPENED: Recent developments indicate that pharmaceutical deals are attracting greater scrutiny from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). In September 2019, FTC Chairman Joseph Simons reportedly stated that the FTC will more closely scrutinize deals with overlaps involving products that are still in clinical study or development. Because of the high failure rate of products...
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Second Circuit Rejects Total Wine Challenge of Connecticut Pricing Laws
By Jonathan Ende and Will Diaz on Mar 5, 2019
Posted In Private Litigation
Last week, in Connecticut Fine Wine and Spirits LLC v. Seagull, the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed a lower court’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit from Total Wine & More challenging parts of Connecticut’s Liquor Control Act and related regulations. Though the decision represents a victory for state alcohol regulatory regimes,...
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THE LATEST: AAG Delrahim Withdraws Statement on Remedies for Standards-Essential Patents Subject to Voluntary FRAND Commitments, Elaborates Views on SSOs
By Jonathan Ende and Will Diaz on Dec 19, 2018
Posted In DOJ Developments, IP Antitrust
In a December 7 speech before the Berkeley-Stanford Advanced Patent Law Institute, the US Department of Justice Antitrust Division (DOJ) Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim (AAG Delrahim) announced that the DOJ will withdraw its assent to the 2013 Policy Statement on Remedies for Standards-Essential Patents Subject to Voluntary FRAND Commitments (the Policy Statement) and elaborated...
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THE LATEST: FTC Submits Comment on FDA Guidance Aimed at Deterring Abuse of Citizen Petition Process
By Gregory E. Heltzer, Jonathan Ende and Will Diaz on Dec 11, 2018
Posted In FTC Developments, Healthcare Antitrust
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) submitted comments supporting the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) guidance for assessing whether a pharmaceutical company petitioner is misusing the citizen petition process to delay approval of a competing drug. WHAT HAPPENED: The FDA released revised draft guidance intended to discourage pharmaceutical companies from gaming the citizen petition process. The...
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THE LATEST: FTC to Look Closely at Competition between Biologics and Biosimilars and Patent Protection Strategies of Branded Manufacturers
By Louise Aberg and Will Diaz on Jul 24, 2018
Posted In FTC Developments, Healthcare Antitrust, IP Antitrust
WHAT HAPPENED On July 18, 2018, US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Scott Gottlieb delivered a speech at The Brookings Institution in Washington, DC, discussing how to bolster competition from biosimilars while maintaining innovation. The Commissioner noted the absence of true competition among biologics from biosimilar products in the United States, similarly to what...
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THE LATEST: US Steel’s Section 337 Antitrust Claim Rejected by ITC Commissioners
By Jonathan Ende and Will Diaz on Apr 4, 2018
Posted In Private Litigation
The US International Trade Commission (ITC) issued an opinion dismissing United States Steel Corporation’s antitrust claim made under Section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930 against several Chinese steel manufacturers or distributors, ruling that a complainant must show an antitrust injury even in a trade case. WHAT HAPPENED On Monday, March 19, three of...
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THE LATEST: Divestitures of Complex Pipeline Pharmaceutical Products off the Table at the FTC
By Jonathan Ende and Will Diaz on Feb 9, 2018
Posted In FTC Developments, Mergers & Acquisitions
WHAT HAPPENED: Bruce Hoffman, acting director of the Bureau of Competition at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), announced that the FTC will no longer accept divestitures of inhalant and injectable pipeline drugs in pharmaceutical mergers. Hoffman, speaking at the Global Competition Review Seventh Annual Antitrust Law Leaders Forum on February 2, 2018, explained that divestitures...
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THE LATEST: DOJ Price-Fixing Probe Demonstrates That Deal Risk Is Not the Only Antitrust Concern Merging Parties Should Keep in Mind
By Will Diaz on Jun 15, 2017
Posted In Cartel Enforcement, DOJ Developments, FTC Developments, Joint Ventures/Competitor Collaboration, Mergers & Acquisitions
Bumble Bee Foods, and two of its senior vice presidents, have recently pled guilty to US Department of Justice (DOJ) charges that they engaged in a conspiracy to fix prices of shelf-stable tuna fish sold in the United States from 2011 to 2013. Bumble Bee agreed to pay a $25 million criminal fine that can...
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