The Third Circuit Sharply Curtails the FTC’s Preferred Enforcement Power

1 March 2019
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Key takeaways:
  • Recent Third Circuit opinion significantly limits the FTC’s ability to bring consumer protection and competition enforcement actions in federal court rather than in an administrative proceeding.
  • As a result of this ruling, the FTC largely has lost its ability to seek injunctive and monetary relief in the Third Circuit for past violations of the FTC Act that are not ongoing.
  • This decision upsets decades of practice regarding a cornerstone of the FTC’s consumer protection and competition efforts and will have immediate, far-reaching ramifications.