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
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
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently filed a complaint in federal court alleging Southern Glazer’s Wine and Spirits LLC (Southern Glazer) violated the Robinson-Patman Act (RPA), a price discrimination law....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 the eve of a new administration, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed its first price-discrimination action under the Robinson-Patman Act (RPA) since 2000. The FTC sued Southern Glazer’s Wine and Spirits LLC in US...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
On December 12, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) filed a lawsuit against Southern Glazer’s Wine and Spirits, the largest distributor of wine and spirits in the U.S., alleging that Southern Glazer’s has violated the...more
The rumors of the death of price discrimination enforcement may have been greatly exaggerated. The Robinson-Patman Act (“RPA”) (15 U.S.C. §13), enacted in 1936, prohibits price discrimination by producers and resellers of...more
On May 20, 2024, US District Court Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald rejected a popular over-the-counter eyedrop seller’s bid for a new trial and granted a pricing injunction impacting two large wholesale membership clubs following...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
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
On January 10, 2023 Politico reported that the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) has launched antitrust investigations into Pepsi and Coca Cola. According to the article, the “companies’ pricing strategies are being...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
After decades of dormancy, enforcement of the Robinson-Patman Act may be making a comeback. In his first public remarks as an FTC Commissioner regarding his views on antitrust enforcement, Commissioner Alvaro Bedoya called...more
On March 1, 2022, a federal judge granted summary judgment in favor of Ford Motor Company (“Ford”), holding that Ford’s Brand Exclusivity Standard, part of Ford’s Lincoln Commitment Program, does not violate 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
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
On November 7, 2017, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released an advisory opinion confirming that a non-profit hospital in New York may sell discounted prescription drugs to the employees of an affiliated medical practice...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
Plaintiffs and appellants, the disfavored purchasers in a Robinson-Patman Act case, were twenty-eight retail pharmacies who alleged that the pharmaceutical manufacturer defendants had charged them higher prices than those...more