Announced Action for February 18, 2005

Commission approval of amicus brief filing: The Commission has approved the filing of an amicus brief jointly with the U.S. Department of Justice in the matter concerning Empagran, S.A. v. Hoffmann-LaRoche, Ltd., No. 01-7115 (D.C. Cir.). This brief has been filed in response to an order issued by the D.C. Circuit, which calls for the parties to address an issue not addressed by the Supreme Court’s decision in this case. The Commission vote approving the filing of the amicus brief was 4-0-1, with Chairman Deborah Platt Majoras recused. (FTC File No. P042106; the staff contact is Lawrence DeMille-Wagman, Office of the General Counsel, 202-326-2448; see related press releases issued March 25, 2003 and February 6 and September 24, 2004.)

Copies of the documents mentioned in this release are available from the FTC’s Web site at http://www.ftc.gov and also from the FTC’s Consumer Response Center, Room 130, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20580. Call toll-free: 1-877-FTC-HELP.