Trade Regulation and Antitrust
CK&E counsels clients to ensure that their policies and practices are in compliance with the federal antitrust and trade regulations, including the Sherman Act, Clayton Act, and Robinson Patman Act, as well as state antitrust laws such as California’s Cartwright Act. We assist in the creation of distribution and marketing systems that are antitrust compliant. If litigation raising antitrust or trade regulation issues, such as price fixing or group boycotts, we prosecute or defend claims on behalf of our clients.
Representative Matters
- Represented California egg producers in monopolization action against out of state producers selling eggs at below cost prices.
- Counseled real estate listing service on proper procedures for pricing and availability of information to avoid antitrust liability under the Sherman and Robinson-Patman Acts.
- Successfully defended Santa Fe resort hotels in responding to inquiries by the U.S. Attorney General’s Office into suspected price fixing activities, resulting in a non-prosecution determination.
- Represented Defendants charged with breach of contract to set prices. Obtained summary judgment that contract alleged was illegal under § 2 of the Sherman Act.
- Assessed Manufacturer Suggested Resale Pricing (MSRP), Minimum Advertised Pricing (MAP) policies under both federal antitrust and under every state’s trade regulation laws to determine whether clients’ proposed policies were compliant.
- Assessed Noerr-Pennington issues of trade association rights to petition government for proposed vendor relationship.
