EI News and Notes

Merger Defense Described as Innovative

The Financial Times recently commended White & Case for its particularly innovative defense of Toyota Industry Corporation’s acquisition of Cascade Corporation. According to The Financial Times, White & Case “successfully challenged the Department of Justice’s new economic modeling for antitrust in vertical mergers.” EI provided the economic modeling used in this defense. The EI economists who worked on the matter were Michael G. Baumann, Su Sun, Barry C. Harris, and Matthew B. Wright.

MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company’s Acquisition of NV Energy

In December 2013 MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company (MidAmerican), owned by Berkshire Hathaway, completed its acquisition of NV Energy. John R. Morris filed testimony before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission indicating that MidAmerican’s affiliations with the Kern River Gas Transmission Company and BNSF Railroad would not result in an increase in vertical market power due to the acquisition. Dr. Morris also worked closely with outside counsel at Gibson Dunn on presentations to the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice.

Trademark Infringement Litigation

The U.S. District Court for the Central District of California recently ruled in a trademark infringement suit involving Quiksilver, Inc. (and its subsidiary QS Wholesale, Inc.) and World Marketing, Inc. (WMI). A unanimous jury found that Quiksilver had infringed WMI’s trademark and awarded actual damages, punitive damages, and attorneys’ fees. The decision established new case law for measuring actual damages through a reasonable royalty theory in trademark infringement cases. Thomas R. Varner testified for WMI concerning reasonable royalties. He was assisted by Erica E. Greulich. WMI was represented by the firm of Covington & Burling LLP.