The 2007 Leegin Decision On Resale Price Maintenance and Its Implications For Firms' Distribution Strategies

With its Leegin decision in June 2007, the U.S. Supreme Court adopted amuch more permissive judicial attitude toward businesses' use of vertical price restraintsthan had been the case for almost a century. In most instances, manufacturerswill now be able to use minimum resale price maintenance when dealing withretailers without violating federal antitrust laws. This should increase the efficiencyof product distribution. Some firms are unlikely to be able to take full advantage ofthese more efficient distribution methods, however, because the antitrust laws ofsome individual states are likely to conflict with the new federal rules.