Once taken for granted, the confidentiality of information provided by third parties to the government during the course of nonpublic antitrust investigations can no longer be presumed. Rulings by federal district court in U.S. v. Dean Foods (2010), and FTC v. Laboratory Corporation of America (2011) may give parties in litigation with the Federal Trade Commission or the U.S. Department of Justice's antitrust division the right to obtain confidential and proprietary information that third parties provide to the agencies on a voluntary basis. The decisions could have significant impact on the willingness of third parties to cooperate with government investigations without the issuance of subpoenas.

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