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Washington State

Office of the Attorney General

Attorney General

Nick Brown

Antitrust/Unfair Methods of Competition

Washington's Constitution has prohibited monopolies and combinations in restraint of trade since 1889.  Wash. Const. art. XII, § 22 ( "monopolies and trusts shall never be allowed"). To ensure that founding principle, the Office of the Attorney General's Antitrust Division is responsible for reviewing proposed mergers and health care transactions, investigating anticompetitive conduct, and enforcing state and federal antitrust laws. The Antitrust Division receives no general fund support, funding a portion of its review of health care transactions through pre-transaction notification filing fees, and funding the remainder of its work through recoveries made in successful enforcement actions. 

Our office's Antitrust Division investigates and prosecutes:

  • Price-fixing and other forms of collusion. Price-fixing includes an explicit agreement among competitors to raise, fix, or otherwise maintain the price at which their goods or services are sold to the detriment of either the competitive marketplace, or consumers, workers, or entrepreneurs.
  • Business mergers, health care transactions, and monopolistic practices that would result in reduced competition and harm to consumers or workers.

For a more in-depth description of antitrust laws, read our guide.

For AGO news releases related to antitrust, visit our News Release page. 

In this page you will find resources for the general public, as well as Government Procurement Representatives. You can file an Antitrust complaint or a Healthcare Transaction Notice, and review our latest cases and important information regarding gasoline prices and the labor market in Washington.

If you have any information that you think we should know about and your browser supports forms, you can file a complaint online here. If your browser does not support forms, you may either email us or print out the form and mail it to us at:

Office of the Attorney General
Antitrust Division
800 Fifth Avenue, Suite 2000
Seattle, WA 98104-3188
Telephone: 206-587-5510

 

Please include your address and telephone number so we may contact you for additional information. The Antitrust Division only processes complaints that involve either Washington state residents or businesses located in Washington state.

Additionally, please be aware that your complaint and any related documents that you submit will become "public records."  Under state law, public records are subject to public records disclosure requests and may therefore be seen by other people.  Please see the Open Government portion of the Attorney General website.

Antitrust News Releases

Washington settles generic drug cases with Ascend Laboratories, Citron Pharma, and Mayne Pharma

Washington, as part of a bipartisan coalition of 45 states and territories, has reached settlements with Ascend Laboratories, Citron Pharma and Mayne Pharma to resolve allegations the generic drug manufacturers engaged in a long-running conspiracy to artificially inflate and manipulate prices and reduce competition.  

Washington, multistate coalition seek approval for $400 million settlement in drug price-fixing case

Attorney General Nick Brown has joined a bipartisan coalition of 43 states and territories seeking court approval of a $400 million settlement to resolve allegations that two generic drug manufacturers engaged in long-running conspiracies to artificially inflate and manipulate prices and reduce competition.

Washington, FTC settlement lowers pesticide prices for farmers

The Federal Trade Commission and a coalition of states – including Washington – have secured a proposed settlement with pesticide manufacturing giant Corteva Inc. that will lead to lower pesticide prices for farmers.

WA consumers urged to claim compensation for inflated generic drug prices

Attorney General Nick Brown is urging Washington consumers and businesses to check their eligibility for compensation under a recent settlement for certain generic drug purchases and to submit a claim for compensation here.

AGs secure agreement to restore competition between Zillow and Redfin, advancing consumer choice

Two of the country’s top property listing websites will end an anticompetitive scheme harming consumers under a settlement announced today with a coalition of five attorneys general – co-led by Attorney General Nick Brown – and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

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Antitrust