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LEEGIN CREATIVE LEATHER PRODUCTS, INC. v. PSKS, INC. Syllabus
"unlawful per se," ibid., the need to study an individual restraint's reasonableness in light of real market forces is eliminated, Business Electronics Corp. v. Sharp Electronics Corp., four hundred eighty-five United States seven hundred seventeen, seven hundred twenty-three. Resort to per se rules is confined to restraints "that would always or almost always tend to restrict competition and decrease output." Ibid. Thus, a per se rule is appropriate only after courts have had considerable experience with the type of restraint at issue, see Broadcast Music, Inc. v. Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc., four hundred forty-one United States one, nine, and only if they can predict with confidence that the restraint would be invalidated in all or almost all instances under the rule of reason, see Arizona v. Maricopa County Medical Soc., four hundred fifty-seven United States three hundred thirty-two, three hundred forty-four. Pp. five through seven.
(b) Because the reasons upon which Dr. Miles relied do not justify a per se rule, it is necessary to examine, in the first instance, the economic effects of vertical agreements to fix minimum resale prices and to determine whether the per se rule is nonetheless appropriate. Were this Court considering the issue as an original matter, the rule of reason, not a per se rule of unlawfulness, would be the appropriate standard to judge vertical price restraints. Pp. seven through nineteen.
(one) Economics literature is replete with procompetitive justifications for a manufacturer's use of resale price maintenance, and the few recent studies on the subject also cast doubt on the conclusion that the practice meets the criteria for a per se rule. The justifications for vertical price restraints are similar to those for other vertical restraints. Minimum resale price maintenance can stimulate interbrand competition among manufacturers selling different brands of the same type of product by reducing intrabrand competition among retailers selling the same brand. This is important because the antitrust laws' "primary purpose ... is to protect interbrand competition," Khan, supra, at fifteen. A single manufacturer's use of vertical price restraints tends to eliminate intrabrand price competition; this in turn encourages retailers to invest in services or promotional efforts that aid the manufacturer's position as against rival manufacturers. Resale price maintenance may also give consumers more options to choose among low-price, low-service brands; high-price, high-service brands; and brands falling in between. Absent vertical price restraints, retail services that enhance interbrand competition might be underprovided because discounting retailers can free ride on retailers who furnish services and then capture some of the demand those services generate. Retail price maintenance can also increase interbrand competition by facilitating market entry for new firms and brands and by encouraging retailer services that would not be provided even absent free riding. Pp. nine through twelve.
(two) Setting minimum resale prices may also have anticompetitive
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Syllabus effects; and unlawful price fixing, designed solely to obtain monopoly profits, is an ever present temptation. Resale price maintenance may, for example, facilitate a manufacturer cartel or be used to organize retail cartels. It can also be abused by a powerful manufacturer or retailer. Thus, the potential anticompetitive consequences of vertical price restraints must not be ignored or underestimated. Pp. twelve through fourteen.
(three) Notwithstanding the risks of unlawful conduct, it cannot be stated with any degree of confidence that retail price maintenance "always or almost always tend[s] to restrict competition and decrease output," Business Electronics, supra, at seven hundred twenty-three. Vertical retail-price agreements have either procompetitive or anticompetitive effects, depending on the circumstances in which they were formed; and the limited empirical evidence available does not suggest efficient uses of the agreements are infrequent or hypothetical. A per se rule should not be adopted for administrative convenience alone. Such rules can be counterproductive, increasing the antitrust system's total cost by prohibiting procompetitive conduct the antitrust laws should encourage. And a per se rule cannot be justified by the possibility of higher prices absent a further showing of anticompetitive conduct. The antitrust laws primarily are designed to protect interbrand competition from which lower prices can later result. Respondent's argument overlooks that, in general, the interests of manufacturers and consumers are aligned with respect to retailer profit margins. Resale price maintenance has economic dangers. If the rule of reason were to apply, courts would have to be diligent in eliminating their anticompetitive uses from the market. Factors relevant to the inquiry are the number of manufacturers using the practice, the restraint's source, and a manufacturer's market power. The rule of reason is designed and used to ascertain whether transactions are anticompetitive or procompetitive. This standard principle applies to vertical price restraints. As courts gain experience with these restraints by applying the rule of reason over the course of decisions, they can establish the litigation structure to ensure the rule operates to eliminate anticompetitive restraints from the market and to provide more guidance to businesses. Pp. fourteen through nineteen.
(c) Stare decisis does not compel continued adherence to the per se rule here. Because the Sherman Act is treated as a common-law statute, its prohibition on "restraint[s] of trade" evolves to meet the dynamics of present economic conditions. The rule of reason's case-by-case adjudication implements this common-law approach. Here, respected economics authorities suggest that the per se rule is inappropriate. And both the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission recommend replacing the per se rule with the rule