Resale Price Maintenance: Implications of Marketing Trends for the Colgate Doctrine and the Leegin Factors

Abstract

Resale price maintenance (RPM) is a channel pricing strategy that restricts the price below which a reseller may sell a manufacturer’s product. More than $300 billion in U.S. sales are affected annually by RPM agreements. Adopting a marketing perspective and analyzing trends in distribution arrangements and marketing channel systems, the authors offer predictions regarding the antitrust treatment of RPM following the Supreme Court’s decision in Leegin Creative Leather Products, Inc. v. PSKS, Inc. (2007). This research furthers the understanding of the role of the prior Colgate doctrine in establishing the existence of an RPM agreement and the impact of the new Leegin factors for assessing the competitive effects of RPM. Implications for stakeholders affected by RPM and related unilateral price policies are discussed.