California COMPETE Act Expands Cartwright Act Monopoly Enforcement
Governor Newsom signed AB 1776 (COMPETE Act) on September 30, 2026, broadening California's Cartwright Act monopoly enforcement framework ahead of a January 1, 2027 effective date.
Per a single Latham & Watkins alert (JD Supra, October 1, 2026; the excerpt is truncated, so provision-level detail is unverified), California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 1776 — the COMPETE Act — on September 30, 2026. The statute reportedly materially expands the state's principal antitrust statute, the Cartwright Act, and its monopoly-enforcement reach, with an effective date of January 1, 2027.
For major-firm clients, the significance is that a state already central to nationwide merger review now appears to have a broader in-state toolkit for challenging single-firm conduct, potentially raising parallel exposure alongside federal antitrust claims and letting plaintiffs reframe monopolization theories around California market structure. Practical attention should shift to California-facing distribution, platform, and network-effect businesses, and to counsel weighing how state theories interact with Hart-Scott-Rodino timing and the federal monopoly elements.
Action: confirm the signed text and any Attorney General implementation guidance before January 1, 2027, and audit California-specific theories in pending or threatened disputes. Exact thresholds, covered conduct, and any safe harbors cannot be confirmed from the available excerpt and should be read from the enrolled bill.