California COMPETE Act Expands Cartwright Act for Firms With Market Power
Newsom's signing of AB 1776 broadens California's antitrust statute and reportedly tightens scrutiny of dominant firms' conduct, raising exposure for companies holding durable market power in the state.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 1776, the COMPETE Act, on Sept. 30 (year not stated in the source item), materially expanding the state's Cartwright Act. According to Polsinelli's summary, the law increases the exposure of companies holding market power, signalling a broader set of conduct that California enforcers and private plaintiffs may now reach.
The significance for major-firm clients is structural rather than episodic. California has historically been the most active state venue for antitrust damages claims, with parallel public enforcement through the Attorney General. A statute that lowers the bar for challenging firms with durable market power could expand the universe of viable claims, reshape the probability of exclusionary-conduct and monopolisation theories, and raise settlement value in cases touching California sales or conduct. Counsel should reassess how conduct in and affecting California is documented, and should confirm the bill's operative date, any phased implementation, and which market-power threshold the legislature adopted.
Watch for the Attorney General's first enforcement posture, courts applying the expanded standard, and early private complaints; several firms are expected to publish detailed practice notes once the statutory text and any regulations are fully reviewed.