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