Both the United States and EC have signaled intent to increasingly focus antitrust policy on the protection of nascent competitors and the development of nascent markets. In the U.S., both agency statements and certain cases have cast some light on a shift in antitrust policy to more aggressively protect nascent competitors from domination or elimination by larger and more established rivals. European regulators have indicated that even major blockbuster mergers may be challenged should they result in a loss of competitive innovation, potential future competition and the suppression of research and development (R&D).

Read this chapter in Shearman & Sterling’s 2019 Antitrust Annual Report, “The Protection of Nascent Competitors: A US and EU Perspective.”