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I. Introduction In the previous edition of the Franchise Law Journal, Ms. de Koning and Mr. Blom explained the new European block exemption applicable to member states of the European [...]

The author responds to an editor's note in a symposium issue of Antitrust Law Journal in which he contributed an article. The author indicates several points where he believes the editor's note includes misinterpretations of his article.

The European Commission's hostile policy on vertical restraints (VRs) has long been criticized by lawyers and company executives, who argue that the practice is pro-competitive. The Commission has published a green paper on VRs in which it shows, for the first time, that it is prepared to concede to some of the arguments supporting such agreements. Virtual restraints are part of vertical agreements between firms operating within the distribution chain and establish terms and conditions under which goods and services are marketed.

A structured rule of reason approach should be applied to both price and nonprice vertical restraints to better address the potential for restrictions placed on multibrand retailers to harm intrabrand competition. The structured approach should first apply three screening tests to rule out practices not likely to reduce competition. If the screening tests do not apply, a balancing approach could assess the merits and the costs of practices that may affect competition and intrabrand competition.

The United States Supreme Court has been increasingly tolerant of vertical price restraints. Commonly, such restraints require retailers to sell a brand name product at or above a minimum price set by the producer. The Court has concluded that vertical price restraints may benefit consumers by encouraging the entry of new producers into a market, increasing the level of interbrand competition. In this Article, Professor Grimes offers a critical analysis of the advantages offered by vertical price restraints and describes a variety of the restraints' welfare cost. In particular, Professor Grimes explores the possibility that vertical price restraints encourage misleading brand promotion by dealers. Using as examples restraints in the consumer electronics and car wax markets, Professor Grimes demonstrates the potential for consumers to make less informed, less competitive purchasing decisions. The Article concludes that a careful weighing of the actual benefits and costs of vertical price restraints suggests very few cases in which vertical price restraints will have a net procompetitive effect, and even fewer in which that benefit could not be attained by less anticompetitive means.

WASHINGTON (FNS) -- Fifty state attorneys general issued guidelines Friday on the legality of vertical rstraints, disaggreeing sharply with the Justice Department's interpretation of the antitrust laws. The state guidelines [...]

Justice Clarifies Some Points In New Vertical Restraint Rule WASHINGTON (FNS) A Justice Department official reports that both the product and geographic markets must be evaluated in deciding a company's [...]

US Guidelines Would Ease Exclusivity of Territories Cooperative and voluntary-group wholesalers, in most cases, would be able to give food retailers exclusive territories as a result of the long-awaited Vertical [...]

WASHINGTON (FNS) -- The chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, which monitors operation of antitrust laws, said Congress has sent 'a clear and straightforward message' to the Reagan Administration on [...]

WASHINGTON (FNS) -- In the second such action in a week, the House has condemned the Justice Department's vertical restraints guidelines and has called on the courts and on business [...]

WASHINGTON (FNS) -- Sen. Warren B. Rudman (R., N.H.) and Sen. Howard M. Metzenbaum (D., Ohio) have introduced a resolutionu opposing the Justice Department's Guidelines on Vertical Restraints because the [...]

WASHINTON (FNS) -- In probably his final appearnace before Congress, J. Raul McGrath, the Justice Department's antitrust chief for two years, dismissed criticism of the merger and vertical restraint guidelines [...]

The Justice Department last month issued new guidelines on 'vertical restraints' of trade, which generally involve distribution limits imposed by sellers. According to the new guidelines, Justice will not challenge [...]

NEW YORK (FNS) -- Justice Department guidelines issued last month on vertical restraints are essentially a written confirmation of the antitrust policies the department has been following in recent years, [...]

NEW YORK (FNS) -- Justice Department guidelines issued last month on vertical restrainst are essentially a written confirmation of the antitrust policies the department has been following in recent years, [...]

Item and area key to vertical guidelines A Justice Department official reports that both product and geographic areas must be evaluated in deciding a company's share of the market under [...]

Guides on vertical restraints are reinterpreted by U.S. The Justice Department Wednesday said restrictions imposed by manufacturers and wholesalers on the handling of their products by retailers are legal if [...]