On Feb. 6, 2014, the Federal Trade Commission dismissed six of
the seven unfair competition claims it brought under Section 5 of
the Federal Trade Commission Act against McWane, Inc., the leading
domestic producer of iron pipe fittings in the United States. In
its January 2012 complaint, the FTC alleged that McWane conspired
with its two primary competitors to fix prices for certain small-
and medium-diameter iron pipe fittings (three counts), and that it
unlawfully maintained its monopoly power by trying to keep a
competitor out of a narrower market for domestically produced
fittings (four counts). FTC Administrative Law Judge D. Michael
Chappell initially dismissed the FTC's collusion claims after
finding no evidence of price fixing, but ruled in the FTC's
favor with respect to its monopolization claims. Both parties
appealed the ALJ's decision to the full Commission. Despite
harsh criticism from certain commissioners that the ALJ's
findings as to price fixing were
