A federal court in Massachusetts recently dismissed holistic wellness centers’ price discrimination suit against the manufacturer of body sculpting devices initiated after Plaintiffs withdrew from the manufacturer’s...more
On May 28, 2025, the United States District Court for the Central District of California held that plaintiffs failed to prove that they incurred an antitrust injury flowing from the differential promotional allowances...more
On April 17, 2025, a federal district court denied a motion to dismiss the first government enforcement action brought in decades under the Robinson-Patman Act (“RPA”), a statute that prohibits price discrimination and other...more
This month, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) filed its much-anticipated lawsuit against Southern Glazer’s Wine and Spirits, LLC (“Southern Glazer’s”), alleging the alcohol distributor violated the Robinson-Patman Act...more
On December 12, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed its first Robinson-Patman Act case in more than 20 years, just as the White House is set to change parties and the balance of power on the FTC will swing...more
In the waning days of the current administration, the antitrust agencies continue to cross items off their holiday wish list. Since the presidential election in November, the antitrust agencies have filed a new merger...more
On December 12, 2024, following a nearly two-year-long investigation, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) initiated its first litigation under the Robinson-Patman Act (RPA) in more than two decades. The FTC sued Southern...more
On December 12, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sued Southern Glazer’s Wine and Spirits, LLC (Southern) in the Central District of California for alleged price discrimination, initiating the first federal government...more
California Attorney General Rob Bonta issued a consumer alert highlighting Assembly Bill 1287, which prohibits businesses from charging different prices for substantially similar products based solely on gender, a practice...more
After decades of dormancy, the Robinson-Patman Act (RPA), a Depression-era antitrust statute prohibiting price discrimination, has recently become the subject of renewed interest from both private plaintiffs and government...more
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has heralded its increased antitrust scrutiny of price discrimination under the Robinson-Patman Act (RPA), though little has come of it to date. Yet, our review of trends in private...more
On March 28, 2024, 14 lawmakers penned an open letter to the Federal Trade Commission urging the agency to revive enforcement of the Robinson-Patman Act. This call to action, coupled with the FTC’s recently renewed interest...more
There have been reports that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is leveraging the long-dormant Robinson-Patman Act as a basis for civil investigations into potential price discrimination by distributors in the alcoholic and...more
While government enforcement of the Robinson-Patman Act (the Act) was all but forgotten for nearly two decades, the Federal Trade Commission (the FTC) announced a second investigation over potential price discrimination in...more
The US Federal Trade Commission’s (“FTC”) reported investigations of Coca-Cola Co. and PepsiCo. Inc. for price discrimination are a significant step toward the agency’s revival of enforcement under the Robinson-Patman Act...more
While, historically, government enforcement of the Robinson-Patman Act has been virtually non-existent, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently announced its intention to dust-off the oft-forgotten Act to encourage...more
The Selective Extension of Payment Terms May Expose Sellers to Abnormally High Risk under the Robinson-Patman Act - As the economic consequences of social distancing ripple through the economy, businesses throughout the...more
Family-owned wholesalers brought a Robinson-Patman claim against the maker of 5-hour Energy alleging discounts given to Costco amounted to illegal price discrimination. A jury in California rejected the claim after a...more
Last week, a California federal jury concluded that the maker of 5-Hour Energy Drink did not violate federal antitrust law by selling the energy shots to Costco for less than the price charged to its family-owned rivals....more
On October 21, 2019, a jury empaneled by the United States District Court for the Central District of California found that the makers of 5-Hour Energy “shots” did not violate the Robinson-Patman Act (“RPA”) by providing more...more
Failure to show antitrust injury proved fatal to price discrimination claims as the Third Circuit affirmed a directed verdict in favor of cement company, Argos USVI, in a case brought by its customer, ready-mix concrete...more
Rebates and other volume discounts are a frequent practice in businesses today. While few manufacturers recognize that pure volume discounts and other forms of rebates — unless designed and implemented properly — can run...more
In the latest development in Woodman’s Food Market v. Clorox—the saga between Clorox and Woodman’s that last year generated a landmark Robinson-Patman Act (RP Act) decision by the Seventh Circuit—Clorox is asking the district...more
In a precedent-setting opinion, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in Aerotec International, Inc. v. Honeywell International, Inc., No. 14-15562, 2016 WL 4709868 (9th Cir. Sept. 9, 2016), affirmed the summary...more
On August 12, 2016, the Seventh Circuit decided Woodman’s Food Market, Inc. v. Clorox Co., No. 15-3001, and held that Clorox’s refusal to sell bulk-sized packages of certain products to some retailers, like Woodman’s, when it...more