The Events
The Federal Trade Commission will hold a series of four to six public workshops early next year to explore, for the purposes of enforcing Section 1 of the Sherman Act and Section 5 of the FTC Act, how to best distinguish between uses of resale price maintenance (RPM) that benefit consumers and those that do not. The Commission expects the workshops to focus on legal doctrines and jurisprudence related to RPM, theoretical and empirical economic research, and business and consumer experiences. Each workshop will be free and open to the public, and pre-registration will not be required. A more-detailed description of each workshop will be issued prior to the date it will be held; will include information on the workshop location; and will solicit additional public comment on the topic to be addressed. Each workshop will be accessible to people with disabilities. Anyone needing a related accommodation should contact Carrie McGlothlin at the FTC at 202-326-3388. Such requests should include a detailed description of the accommodations needed and contact information if more information is needed.
Background
RPM typically involves an agreement between a manufacturer and retailer setting the prices at which the retailer will resell the manufacturer’s goods to consumers. If the agreement requires the retailer to sell the goods only at or above prices established by the manufacturer, it is said to be minimum RPM. On the other hand, if the agreement requires the retailer to sell the products only at or below the price established by the manufacturer, it is said to be maximum RPM. Among other things, the workshops will examine when and where particular market facts or conditions make it more or less likely that the use of RPM will be procompetitive or neutral, and when or whether such RPM may harm competition and consumers.
As detailed in the Federal Register Notice announcing the workshops, which is available now on the Commission’s Web site and below, the FTC is requesting public comment from attorneys, economists, marketing professionals, the business community, consumer groups, law enforcers, academics, and other interested parties on three general subjects:
- The legal, economic, and management principles relevant to applying Sections 1 of the Sherman Act and Section 5 of the FTC Act to RPM, including the ability to administer current or potential antitrust or other rules for applying these laws;
- The business circumstances regarding the use of RPM that the Commission should examine in the upcoming workshops, including examples of actual conduct; and
- Empirical studies or analyses that might provide better guidance and assistance to the business and legal communities regarding RPM enforcement issues.
May 20-21, 2009
- Press Release
- Federal Register Notice announcing this workshop [PDF]
- Agendas
- May 20, 2009 [PDF]
- May 21, 2009 [PDF]
- Panelist Bios
- May 20, 2009 [PDF]
- May 21, 2009 [PDF]
- Panelist Presentations (May 20, 2009)
- Moderator:
- Dr. Pauline Ippolito, Acting Director, Bureau of Economics, FTC
- Dr. Pauline Ippolito, Acting Director, Bureau of Economics, FTC
- Panelists:
- Dr. Francine Lafontaine, Professor of Business Economics and Public Policy and Professor of Economics, University of Michigan
Resale Price Maintenance and Other Vertical Restraints: The Evidence - Dr. Gregory T. Gundlach, Professor of Marketing, Coggin College of Business, University of North Florida
Resale Price Maintenance After Leegin: Topics and Questions for Research [Written] - Dr. John Asker, Assistant Professor of Economics, Stern School of Business, New York University,
Empirical Challenges and Opportunities in Studying Retail Price Maintenance - Dr. Daniel M. Garrett, Vice President, Cornerstone Research
- Dr. Michael G. Vita, Assistant Director, Bureau of Economics, FTC
- Dr. Francine Lafontaine, Professor of Business Economics and Public Policy and Professor of Economics, University of Michigan
- Moderator:
- Panelist Presentations (May 21, 2009)
- Moderator:
- Laurel A. Price, Attorney Advisor to Commissioner Harbour, FTC,
Discussion Topics for Post-Leegin Rule of Reason Panel
- Laurel A. Price, Attorney Advisor to Commissioner Harbour, FTC,
- History Panelists:
- Professor Rudolph J. R. Peritz, Professor of Law, New York Law School, and author of Competition Policy in America: History, Rhetoric, Law (Oxford Univ. Press 1996, 2001), 1. “Nervine” and Knavery: The Life and Times of Dr. Miles Medical Company
2. The Roberts Court After Two Years: Antitrust, Intellectual Property Rights, and Competition Policy - Professor William Trombetta, Professor of Pharmaceutical Marketing, St. Joseph’s University
The Evolution of Retailing: Impact on RPM
- Professor Rudolph J. R. Peritz, Professor of Law, New York Law School, and author of Competition Policy in America: History, Rhetoric, Law (Oxford Univ. Press 1996, 2001), 1. “Nervine” and Knavery: The Life and Times of Dr. Miles Medical Company
- Rule of Reason Panelists:
- Alan M. Barr, Ass’t Att’y Gen., Deputy Chief, Antitrust Div, Office of the Attorney General of Maryland,
State Challenges to Vertical Price Fixing in the Post-Leegin World - Seth E. Bloom, General Counsel to the Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights Subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary Committee
- Richard Brunell, Adjunct Professor of Law, Boston College School of Law, Senior Fellow and Director of Legal Advocacy, American Antitrust Institute
Overruling Dr. Miles: The Supreme Trade Commission In Action - Edward D. Cavanagh, Professor of Law, St. John’s University School of Law
- Lloyd Constantine, Counsel, Constantine Cannon LLP
- David H. Evans, Counsel, Arent Fox LLP
- Thomas B. Leary, Of Counsel, Hogan & Hartson LLP, former Commissioner, FTC,
The Future of Resale Price Maintenance, Now that Doctor Miles is Dead - Joshua D. Wright, Assistant Professor of Law, George Mason University School of Law
- Alan M. Barr, Ass’t Att’y Gen., Deputy Chief, Antitrust Div, Office of the Attorney General of Maryland,
- Moderator:
- Webcast (A live webcast will be available on the day of the event. Bookmark this page and come back on the days of the event to link to the webcast.)
February 17 & 19, 2009
- Press Releases
- Federal Register Notice announcing this workshop [PDF]
- Agendas
- February 17, 2009 [PDF]
- February 19, 2009 [PDF]
- Panelist Bios
- February 17, 2009 [PDF]
- February 19, 2009 [PDF]
- Panelist Presentations
- February 17, 2009
- Commissioner Pamela Jones Harbour, Opening Remarks, Consumer Benefits and Harms from Resale Price Maintenance: Sorting the Beneficial Sheep from the Antitrust Goats?
- Benjamin Klein, Resale Price Maintenance in the Absence of Free-Riding [Presentation]
- Howard P. Marvel, The Benefits of Resale Price Maintenance
- Ralph A. Winter, Resale Price Maintenance with and without Free-Riding [Presentation]
- February 19, 2009
- Tim Brennan, Theories of Harm from RPM: Exclusion, the Equivalence Principle, and Per Se Rules [Short Verison]
- Warren S. Grimes, Retail Price Maintenance: A Competitive Assessment [Presentation]
- Patrick Rey, RPM: Theories of Harm
- Greg Shaffer, Theories of Harm from Resale Price Maintenance
- February 17, 2009
- Webcast (A live webcast will be available on the day of the event. Bookmark this page and come back on the days of the event to link to the webcast.)
PRE-REGISTRATION
The event is free and open to the public. All attendees will be required to display a current driver's license or other valid form of photo identification. The Conference Center is accessible to people with disabilities. If you need an accommodation related to a disability, please call Ossie Neal, (202) 326-2358.
Pre-registration for this workshop is not necessary, but is encouraged, so that we may better plan for the event.
To pre-register, email your name and affiliation to rpmworkshop@ftc.gov.
NOTE: When you pre-register, we will collect your name, affiliation, and your email address. This information will be used to estimate how many people will attend. We may use your email address to contact you with information about the workshop.
FILING A COMMENT
The Commission invites interested persons to submit written comments on issues related to this workshop. Comments to inform discussion at the workshop must be received by December 12, 2008. All comments in response to the Federal Register Notice are due by December 12, 2008.
Comments should be captioned “Resale Price Maintenance Workshop - Comment, P090400” and submitted according to the instructions below.
To File Electronically:
Follow the instructions and fill out the form at https:// secure.commentworks.com/ftcresalepricemaintenanceworkshop/
To File in Paper Form:
A comment filed in paper form should include the reference to “Resale Price Maintenance Workshop - Comment, Project No. P090400” in both the text and on the envelope, and should be mailed or delivered to the following address:
Federal Trade Commission/Office of the Secretary
600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Room H-135 (Annex C)
Washington, DC 20580
Because postal mail in the Washington area and at the Commission is subject to delay, please consider submitting your comments in electronic form, as described above. The FTC requests that you send any comment by courier or overnight service, if possible.
To Request Confidential Treatment:
To request confidential treatment, you must file in paper form and clearly label the first page of the document with “Confidential” and comply with Commission Rule 4.9(c). 15 C.F.R. § 4.9(c).
FTC PRIVACY POLICY
Under the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) or other laws, we may be required to disclose to outside organizations the information you provide when you pre-register. The Commission will consider all timely and responsive public comments, whether filed in paper or electronic form, and as a matter of discretion, we make every effort to remove home contact information for individuals from the public comments before posting them on the FTC website.
The FTC Act and other laws we administer permit the collection of your pre-registration contact information and the comments you file to consider and use in this proceeding as appropriate. For additional information, including routine uses permitted by the Privacy Act, see the Commission’s comprehensive Privacy Policy.