Showing archive for: “Rule of Reason”
Dear Mr. Toobin
Jeff Toobin has an interesting profile on John Roberts in the New Yorker (HT: Jonathan Adler who also takes issue with Toobin’s description of Leegin, but goes on to challenge Toobin’s general account of Roberts as a “stealth nominee”). Toobin’s column has very little to do with antitrust. with the exception of one sentence describing ... Dear Mr. Toobin
Lambert's Latest on RPM in the William and Mary Law Review
The law and economics of RPM have been a frequent topic of discussion here for Thom and I especially, ranging from the empirical evidence on RPM, to competitive resale price maintenance without free riding, to the inappropriate use of the term “price-fixing” by journalists some who should know better to describe RPM, to the Commission’s ... Lambert's Latest on RPM in the William and Mary Law Review
RPM Workshop Testimony
I’ll be testifying tomorrow at the Federal Trade Commission hearings on Resale Price Maintenance. My panel will focus on rule of reason analysis of RPM Post-Leegin. There is a bit of awkwardness testifying about different modes of rule of reason analysis with legislation that would restore the Dr. Miles per se rule pending, but it ... RPM Workshop Testimony
Section 2 Symposium: Tim Brennan on Predation, Exclusion, and Complement Market Monopolization
As evidenced by this on-line symposium, the handling of cases under the rubrics “monopolization,” “single firm conduct”, or “abuse of dominance” continues to be debated by the competition policy community. This debate, as evidenced by the Antitrust Division’s Sept. 2008 single firm conduct report and the FTC responses, is not restricted within the U.S. The ... Section 2 Symposium: Tim Brennan on Predation, Exclusion, and Complement Market Monopolization
Section 2 Symposium: Bruce Kobayashi on Are Administrable Bright Line Rules Underutilized in Section 2 Analyses?
One of the most important changes in the antitrust laws over the past 40 years has been the diminished reliance of rules of per se illegality in favor of a rule of reason analysis. With the Court’s recent rulings in Leegin (eliminating per se rule for minimum RPM) and Independent Ink (eliminating the per se ... Section 2 Symposium: Bruce Kobayashi on Are Administrable Bright Line Rules Underutilized in Section 2 Analyses?
Section 2 Symposium: Bill Kolasky on a Stepwise Rule of Reason for Exclusionary Conduct
The most controversial part of the Justice Department’s Single Firm Conduct Report is the Department’s proposed use of what it terms a “substantial disproportionality” test for exclusionary conduct. Under this test, the Justice Department would bring a case only if the harm to consumers and competition caused by a dominant or near-dominant firm’s conduct is ... Section 2 Symposium: Bill Kolasky on a Stepwise Rule of Reason for Exclusionary Conduct
Maryland Adopts New Per Se Rule for Minimum RPM
A new law in Maryland will take effect on October 1 and will re-instate the Dr. Miles rule for minimum RPM. The Wall Street Journal reports that it is a “move that could lead to lower prices for consumers across the country.” I doubt it. There are quite a few reasons to believe that shifts ... Maryland Adopts New Per Se Rule for Minimum RPM
Professor Carrier’s Response
First of all, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Josh Wright. Only because of Josh’s creativity and tireless, flawless execution did this blog symposium come about and run so smoothly. I also would like to thank Dennis Crouch, who has generously cross-posted the symposium at PatentlyO. And I am grateful for the ... Professor Carrier’s Response
Wright on Carrier's Innovation in the 21st Century
First, I want to join the rest of the participants in congratulating Professor Carrier on an excellent and well-written book emerging out of a thoughtful and ambitious project. The project, and the book, are provocative, important contributions to the literature, and usefully synthesize many of the most important debates in both antitrust and intellectual property. ... Wright on Carrier's Innovation in the 21st Century
Varney on RPM
I just saw this very good piece in The Deal from Sean Gates and Tej Srimushnam (Morrison & Foerster) on what Christine Varney’s appointment to the Antitrust Division might mean for enforcement decisions. Gates and Srimushnam predict that some of the most important changes associated with the Varney DOJ are likely to be the “return” ... Varney on RPM
Competitive Resale Price Maintenance in the Absence of Free-Riding
I want to second Josh’s commendation of Ben Klein’s submission to the recent FTC Hearings on Resale Price Maintenance. Klein’s paper, which bears the same title as this post, is lucidly written (blissfully free of equations, Greek letters, etc.) and makes a point that, at this juncture in antitrust’s history, is absolutely crucial. In the ... Competitive Resale Price Maintenance in the Absence of Free-Riding
To Whom It May Concern: Please Stop Calling RPM Agreements Cartels (or Price-Fixing)
The headline of this Bloomberg story on the Swiss Competition Authority’s complaint against Bayer, Pfizer and Lilly announces that the firms operated an “Erection Drug Cartel.” I read a bit further to learn something about what I suspected, from the title of the story, would be a horizontal agreement between the firms — that is ... To Whom It May Concern: Please Stop Calling RPM Agreements Cartels (or Price-Fixing)
