Antitrust Issues in Retail Law

Antitrust issues in retail have returned to prominence as long-dormant antitrust theories have come back to life and the appellate courts have become increasingly sympathetic to the interests of smaller retailers and suppliers. This course examines major areas of activity in antitrust law as it pertains to retail. Your instructor for this course is August Horvath, a partner at Kelley Drye & Warren in New York with over 18 years of experience in counseling and litigation on retail-related antitrust issues. First, Mr. Horvath reviews developments in the areas of resale price maintenance, or so-called "vertical price fixing," in which a supplier agrees with a reseller on the price the reseller will charge to its own customers. Mr. Horvath then discusses "unilateral pricing policies" or "Colgate policies" that are often adopted as a safer alternative to resale price maintenance. Also covered is  the related topic of minimum advertising price (MAP) policies, in which the supplier merely limits the price at which a reseller advertises its product rather than the price at which it sells. 

Learning objectives: 

I.    Understand the evolving federal and state law of resale price maintenance. 

II.   Know the good and the bad reasons to undertake a resale price maintenance or a minimum advertised price policy. 

III.  Learn strategies to cope with the demands and expectations of powerful vendors or customers while complying with the antitrust laws.