Legal Library: Cases and Proceedings

The consent order permits the merger of Philip Monis and Nabisco Holdings Corporation while settling charges that the merger of the two food companies would reduce competition in the already highly-concentrated food product markets. Under terms of the order, the parties are required to divest Nabisco's dry- mix gelatin, dry-mix pudding, no-bake dessert, and baking powder assets to The Jet Sea Company and Nabisco's intense mints assets to Hershey Foods Corporation.

A consent order permitted Winn- Dixie's acquisition of 68 supermarkets and other assets from bankrupt Jitney-Jungle Stores of America, Inc. The order prohibits Winn-Dixie, among other things, from acquiring any interest in four Jitney-Jungle supermarkets located in the following areas: Niceville, Gulf Breeze, and Destin, Florida; as well as the Gulfport-Biloxi area of Mississippi.  in addition, for 10 years, Winn-Dixie is prohibited from entering into or enforcing any agreement that restricts the ability of any person to operate a supermarket in the location of a former Winn-Dixie store.

On June 4, 1999 an administrative law judge dismissed charges against VISX, a key developer of laser eye surgery equipment and technology, known as photorefractive keratectomy (PRK). According to the 1998 administrative complaint., VISX and Summit Technology, the only two firms legally able to market equipment for PRK, placed their competing patents in a patent pool and shared the proceeds each and every time a Summit or VISX laser was used. The administrative law judge also dismissed charges that VISX acquired a key patent by inequitable conduct and fraud on the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, ruling that complaint counsel failed to present evidence that an act of fraud was committed since information was not willfully withheld from the patent office. A final order settled the price fixing allegations in the 1998 complaint. On February 7, 2001, the Commission dismissed its complaint after the U.S. patent and Trademark Office issued a Reexamination Certificate of U.S. Patent No. 5,108,388.