Product Distribution Challenge Recently Addressed by Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Landmark Decision Under the Robinson-Patman Act *

October 2016

Abstract

The passage of the Sherman Act by Congress in 1890 marked the onslaught of an antitrust revolution, which began in the United States and has now taken root in most countries throughout the world. While the initial focus of the antitrust regulatory efforts in the United States was monopolies and conspiracies (and attendant criminal consequences), the legislative platform shifted in 1936 to ensuring that buyers of goods in the retail distribution chain operated on a level playing field with the passage of the Robinson-Patman Act (the “Act”).

Author

R. Mark McCareins

General Counsel, Metals Service Center Institute, USA

R. Mark McCareins is the general counsel of the Metals Service Center Institute (www.msci.org). He also is a Clinical Professor in the Strategy Department of Northwestern University’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management where he teaches antitrust and business law. He practiced competition law with Winston and Strawn LLP for over thirty years where he was co-counsel for Respondent Spray-Rite Service Corp. in the referenced matter. He currently is a Clinical Professor in the Strategy Department at Kellogg.

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Product Distribution Challenge Recently Addressed by Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Landmark Decision Under the Robinson-Patman Act *

Abstract

Author

Company

Metals Service Center Institute

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