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Supreme Court Confirms Narrow Application of Single Entity Immunity in Joint Venture Antitrust Analysis
On May 24, 2010, the United States Supreme Court handed down the first ruling for an antitrust plaintiff in years, and reiterated that the activities of independent parties, even when closely coordinated as part of a joint venture, are not presumptively immune from antitrust liability. Specifically, the Court held in American Needle, Inc. v. National Football League that the National Football League, its teams and National Football League Properties, which the teams formed to coordinate the joint licensing of their intellectual property, could not shield themselves from scrutiny under Section 1 of the Sherman Act. The Court rejected the NFL entities' claim that they operated only as a single enterprice and, thus, were incapable of having the multiple independent actors required for liability under that statute.
Alston & Bird has prepared an advisory providing an analysis of the ruling and its impact for joint venture partners.
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