A continued role for market definition in merger cases

Market definition continues to be a central issue in merger litigation despite the 2010 Merger Guidelines' attempt to create an alternative, less market definition-reliant framework. Indeed, each complaint filed by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) since those guidelines were issued in August 2010 has alleged product and geographic markets, as agency officials indicated was likely when the revised guidelines were adopted.