Peter J. Wang

After years of discussions, China’s State Administration for Industry and Commerce finally has released its guidelines on the application of the PRC Anti-Monopoly Law ("AML") to intellectual property rights ("Guidelines"). The Guidelines will come into force on August 1, 2015. The Guidelines (...)

On April 30, MOFCOM approved the acquisition of AZ Electronic Materials S.A. (“AZ”) by Merck KGaA (“Merck”). MOFCOM’s review focused on two products that are components in the manufacture of flat panel displays (FPDs): liquid crystal and photoresist. The decision indicates that MOFCOM engaged (...)

On April 8, MOFCOM approved Microsoft’s acquisition of Nokia’s mobile handset business. MOFCOM’s review focused on three product markets: smartphones, mobile operating systems, and the licensing of standard-essential and non-essential patents for smartphones. Geographically, MOFCOM focused on (...)

This article has been nominated for the 2014 Antitrust Writing Awards. Click here to learn more about the Antitrust Writing Awards. Within the same week, the Shanghai Higher Court and one of China’s antitrust antitrust regulators have issued decisions that resale price maintenance ("RPM") (...)

After years of discussions, the Hong Kong Legislative Council finally passed a comprehensive competition law (the "HK Competition Law"). The HK Competition Law includes the classic prohibitions of anticompetitive agreements and abuses of market power, as well as a merger control regime (with (...)

India’s Competition Commission, which was established in 2003 and has been enforcing the cartel provisions of the law since 2009, has imposed fines of approximately US$ 1.1 billion against 11 internationally and locally owned cement manufacturers and their industry association for price fixing. (...)

On 19 May 2012, the PRC Ministry of Commerce ("MOFCOM") approved the acquisition by Google Inc. of Motorola Mobility, Inc. under the Chinese Anti-Monopoly Law ("AML"), but imposed conditions to require that Google continue to license the Android operating system and the patents acquired from (...)

The Chinese Supreme People’s Court ("SPC") has promulgated final Rules on Civil Litigation under the Anti-Monopoly Law ("AML") (the "Rules"), which will become effective on June 1, 2012. These Rules set out the framework for civil antitrust litigation in China. The implementation of these new (...)

Companies and individuals that are accused of price-fixing rarely go to trial. Indeed, in the last 10 years, no corporate defendant (and only a handful of individuals) has elected to litigate an international criminal cartel case in a U.S. court. The vast majority of cases are resolved through (...)

China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) has approved Seagate’s acquisition of the hard drive disk division of Samsung Electronics ("Samsung HDD") under China’s Anti-Monopoly Law ("AML"), but imposed conditions to ensure that Samsung, although controlled by Seagate, remains an independent competitor. (...)

The Chinese Ministry of Commerce ("MOFCOM") has published a conditional approval of proposed transaction under China’s Anti-Monopoly Law ("AML"). This decision reflects China’s view of the broad reach of the AML’s merger provisions and the lengthy procedure that merging parties can expect. (...)

The Chinese Ministry of Commerce ("MOFCOM") has published a conditional approval of proposed transaction under China’s Anti-Monopoly Law ("AML"). This decision reflects China’s view of the broad reach of the AML’s merger provisions and the lengthy procedure that merging parties can expect. Since (...)

China has published new rules to implement the national security review that will be conducted as part of the review of mergers and acquisitions by foreign investors and involving Chinese companies. These rules provide for review and potential rejection of acquisitions of Chinese companies by (...)

The Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China ("MOFCOM") has published its Interim Rules on the Assessment of the Effects of Concentrations of Undertakings on Competition ("Rules"), effective September 5, 2011. The Rules explain how MOFCOM will assess mergers or other (...)

On June 2, 2011, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) announced conditional approval of the merger between Russian potash producers Silvinit and Uralkali. Since the PRC Anti-Monopoly Law ("AML") entered into force in 2008, MOFCOM has published only eight decisions, as it makes public only (...)

The Chinese Supreme People’s Court ("SPC") has made substantial progress in recent months writing rules for private enforcement of China’s 2008 Anti-Monopoly Law ("AML"). On March 20, 2011, the SPC published revised Rules on Civil Causes of Action, which define which courts are competent to hear (...)

The State Council of the People’s Republic of China has published a notice detailing its national security review («NSR») procedure for the acquisition by foreign investors of domestic Chinese companies («NSR Notice»). The NSR Notice, which implements Article 31 of the PRC Anti-Monopoly Law, will be (...)

This article has been nominated for the 2012 Antitrust Writing Awards. Click here to learn more about the Antitrust Writing Awards. This Commentary analyzes China’s leniency program for cartel investigations, in the wake of adoption of new rules by the National Development and Reform Commission (...)

After a four-month review, on 13 August 2010, China’s Ministry of Commerce (“MOFCOM”) authorized Novartis‘ acquisition of Alcon subject to conditions. Taking different approaches than one would see in the U.S. or European Union, MOFCOM’s decision is notable for the demanding view it takes of (...)

Recent actions by the Chinese price regulator, the National Development and Reform Commission (« NDRC »), indicate an increasing emphasis on enforcement against pricing and other competition law violations. Companies in agriculture industries and other business sectors that could implicate (...)

On May 25, 2010, the State Administration of Industry and Commerce ("SAIC") published for public comment three sets of draft rules. These (1) "monopoly agreements," that is, anticompetitive agreements, (2) abuses of dominant market position, and (3) "administrative monopolies," anticompetitive (...)

On May 25, 2010, the State Administration of Industry and Commerce ("SAIC") published for public comment three sets of draft rules. These address (1) "monopoly agreements," that is, anticompetitive agreements, (2) abuses of dominant market position, and (3) "administrative monopolies," (...)

On May 25, 2010, the State Administration of Industry and Commerce ("SAIC") published for public comment three sets of draft rules. These address (1) "monopoly agreements," that is, anticompetitive agreements, (2) abuses of dominant market position, and (3) "administrative monopolies," (...)

China’s competition law enforcement authorities published their first decision against a price cartel on March 30, 2010, more than one and a half years after the Anti-Monopoly Law (AML) came into effect. This action against domestic rice noodle producers was reported by the National Development (...)

On December 18, 2009, a Chinese court ruled in favor of Baidu, Inc. (“Baidu”), allegedly the largest Chinese search engine company, in a lawsuit filed by Tangshan Renren Information Service Company (“TRISC”), an online information platform. TRISC alleged that Baidu abused its dominant market (...)

On June 5, 2009, the PRC State Administration of Industry and Commerce (« SAIC ») published two new sets of procedural rules to implement the Chinese Anti-Monopoly Law (« AML »). One set of rules deals with procedures for the investigation and handling of cases involving monopoly agreements and (...)

On April 24, 2009, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) announced conditional approval of the proposed acquisition of Lucite International Group Limited by Mitsubishi Rayon Co., Ltd. This is the first MOFCOM decision requiring parties to divest a portion of their production capacity as a (...)

Today the Chinese Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) announced that it had denied antitrust approval of The Coca-Cola Company’s proposed acquisition of a famous Chinese Juice manufacturer, China Huiyuan Juice Group Limited («Huiyuan»). MOFCOM’s decision to block the Coke deal, after its conditional (...)

In an effort to aid the country’s recovery from economic crisis, the Chairman of the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) reportedly has announced that the KFTC may invoke its power to exempt certain cartels from the Korea antitrust laws, so long as the cartels do not engage in «direct price (...)

On December 22, 2008, the Shanghai No. 2 Intermediate Court announced the establishment of a new specialized combined panel of judges (called the "反垄断案件专项合议庭" in Chinese, and referred to below as the "Specialized AML Panel") dedicated to hearing AML lawsuits and related actions. The Specialized AML Panel (...)

On December 18, 2008, the primary competition law agency of Korea, the Korea Fair Trade Commission (« KFTC »), submitted to the President of Korea the KFTC’s business plan for 2009. Among other priorities, the KFTC stated that it plans to « strengthen enforcement against abuse of intellectual (...)

The China Ministry of Commerce (« MOFCOM »), which serves as the antitrust authority in charge of merger control under the new Anti-Monopoly Law (« AML »)[[ See Article 10 of the AML provides that the Anti-Monopoly Enforcement Authority ("AMEA"), designated by the State Council, is responsible for (...)

The State Council has published the long-awaited Regulation on Notification Thresholds for Concentrations of Undertakings (the « Regulation»). The new thresholds supplement the merger control rules under the Anti-Monopoly Law (« AML»), which contains no specific notification thresholds. The new (...)

As the countdown to the August 1, 2008, effective date of the new China Anti-Monopoly Law (« AML ») nears its final stages, the structure and allocation of enforcement responsibilities under the AML is becoming slightly more clear. I. Background The AML establishes a two-tier enforcement (...)

After 14 years of consultation, deliberation, and delays, China finally adopted a new Anti-Monopoly Law (« AML ») on August 30, 2007, which became effective on August 1, 2008. The first comprehensive antitrust law in China, it presents serious compliance challenges and risks for Chinese and (...)

China’s National People’s Congress (« NPC ») finally adopted a new Anti-Monopoly Law (« AML ») in August after more than 10 years of drafting. The law will take effect on August 1, 2008. I. Overview The new AML is a tremendous leap forward for China, bringing it squarely into the modern world of (...)