First authorisation of resale price maintenance?
Dave Poddar and Kiran Gill
Journal of European Competition Law & Practice
Abstract
Since the US Supreme Court's ruling in Leegin, a tendency has emerged among competition regulators to carefully consider the particular circumstances surrounding Resale Price Maintenance (‘RPM’) arrangements, before concluding that such arrangements are illegal.
In this context, an RPM arrangement has been exempted under Australia's authorisation process, subject to conditions, and in this particular case, the acceptance of the RPM conduct was linked by the competition authority to the very specific facts of the nature of the product market and RPM conduct in question.
The decision adopted by the Australian competition authority may be a valuable indicator of the circumstances in which RPM may be accepted in Australia and provides some guidance as to matters that may be relevant in other jurisdictions.