Is That a Carrot or a Stick in Your Hand? The Third Circuit Examines the Line Between Competition and Coercion in De Facto Exclusive Dealing Agreements

By Bill DeVinney on May 18, 2016 Posted in Antitrust Litigation, Sherman Act 2

We recently wrote about attempts to force exclusivity onto customers. But firms with large or dominant market shares often must walk a fine line between properly offering customers percentage-based discounts and improperly coercing customers into de facto exclusivity. For example, if a dominant firm offers a 25 percent price reduction to a customer that purchases … Continue Reading

Forcing Exclusivity on Your Customers May Not Be the Best Competitive Response

By Jonathan Lewis on May 3, 2016 Posted in FTC Act, Sherman Act 5

In the words of the director of the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC’s) Bureau of Competition, the recent enforcement against Invibio, Inc., the first company to sell implant-grade polyetheretherketone, known as PEEK, to medical device makers, “affirms that the first company to enter a market cannot rely on anticompetitive contract terms to lock up customers and … Continue Reading

Fit to Be Tied: Appeals Court Redefines Tying Arrangements Based on Bundled Pricing

By Lee Simowitz on May 15, 2015 Posted in Antitrust Compliance, Sherman Act 2

Corporate antitrust compliance programs often spotlight the dangers of tying arrangements. Those risks arise when a seller with a dominant position in one product coerces its customers by offering that must-have product only if customers buy a second product that they don’t want (or at least would rather buy elsewhere). Tying arrangements are easy for … Continue Reading