Price Fixing

The Predatory Pricing – Booksellers Charge It’s Not A Work Of Fiction

What do Sarah Palin and Stephen King have in common? The answer is not a punchline to a bad joke, it’s that both have books that are selling at 1950s prices, which a group of booksellers view as predatory and worthy of investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice. The American Booksellers Association (ABA), a 109-year-old trade organization representing the nation's locally owned independent booksellers,...

European Union On Verge Of Swinging Class Action Hammer

While the antitrust class action is historically an American enforcement tool, the European Union is on the verge of pressing this powerful hammer into the hands of its member states. Under a draft EU Directive, state bodies and nonprofit organizations appointed by national governments would be able to bring class actions in national courts against companies that fix prices or abuse their dominant market share. ...

Leading Congressional Dems Open Antitrust Front In Healthcare War

The Chairmen of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees have joined forces to open a new – antitrust – front in the war for healthcare reform.  The two leading Democrats are seeking to boost healthcare reform with a partial repeal of an antitrust exemption that’s about as old as Democrats’ efforts to enact universal healthcare. On September 17, 2009, Chairman John Conyers (D.-Mich.) of the House...

A Warning For Corporate Parents In The EU’s Akzo Nobel Case

Being a parent means great responsibilities – especially if you’re a corporate parent with subsidiaries active in the European Union.  As a result of the European Commission’s Akzo Nobel case, such corporate parents now face greater antitrust liability for the conduct of their 100%-owned subsidiaries. On September 10, 2009, the European Court of Justice dismissed Akzo Nobel’s appeal of a 2007 judgment of...

Bundled Discounts – Good For Competition?

The Supreme Court’s decision in Pacific Bell Telephone Co. v. linkLine Communications, Inc., 129 S.Ct. 1109 (2009), suggests that the Court will apply predatory pricing analysis to all antitrust claims with an aspect of low pricing. So it follows that bundled-discounting claims would likely receive the same treatment from the Court that price squeeze claims did.  A bundled discount is where a firm grants a...

Price Squeeze Claims: Antitrust Or Anticompetition?

Some major changes could be afoot in how U.S. law governs monopolist pricing.  The Supreme Court’s February 25, 2009 decision in Pacific Bell Telephone Co. v. linkLine Communications Inc., 129 S.Ct. 1109, marks quite a departure from long-standing price claim precedent.  Let’s take a look how. Price squeezing can occur when a dominant supplier in one market also competes with its buyers in their market. ...