MANUFACTURING, DISTRIBUTION, AND FRANCHISING ANTITRUST

We advise clients on competition issues throughout the supply chain and help them implement antitrust compliance programs. We help clients navigate antitrust limitations on their supply chain, regardless of the level at which the clients operate. We also assist clients and advise them with respect to purchase and supply agreements, distribution, dealerships, franchises, advertising, packaging and labeling, marketing and advertising, group purchasing organizations, trade associations, and the use of sweepstakes and contests, including responding to inquiries from the FTC, DOJ, or National Advertising Division and complaints from competitors or consumers.

Our antitrust lawyers represent clients before state and federal government enforcement agencies, as well as private party litigation involving a multitude of antitrust issues arising from distribution and franchising. We have defended clients facing allegations of exclusive dealing, tying, resale price maintenance, price fixing, monopolization, monopoly leveraging, conspiracy to monopolize, and attempted monopolization. For example, we successfully defended an FTC investigation of a client that was accused of monopolizing a market by using exclusive distribution agreements. We convinced the FTC staff attorneys that our client’s large national market share was the result of providing superior products and service. We have defended numerous Sherman Act Section 1 and 2 challenges to dealer agreements, as well as claims that distribution arrangements violate state laws.

We also have defended clients facing enforcement agency allegations involving packaging and labeling, trade regulations, resale customs regulations, intellectual property concerns, dealer termination, and refusal to deal issues. And when our clients have been impacted by anticompetitive conduct from competing manufacturers or distributors, we have advised regarding available remedies, including bringing legal action. 

In addition, many states have enacted “franchise protection acts” that broadly define “franchisors” to arguably include a wide spectrum of distribution/dealer relationships that most distributors would never consider to be “franchise” in nature. We represent distributors and “traditional” franchisors in dealer termination matters and other claims brought by dealers, franchisees, or competing franchisors.