1. What is the difference between the rule of reason and per se illegality in antitrust cases? Are these standards created by Congress or the courts?

2. What is the difference between interbrand and intrabrand competition? Which type of competition is antitrust law primarily designed to promote?

3. Vertical price restraints may lead to higher prices for the manufacturer’s goods, but the Court does not find this particularly troubling. Why might higher prices not necessarily indicate anticompetitive conduct?

4. What types of activities might send a signal that resale price maintenance is being used for anticompetitive purposes?

OPINION BY: Justice Kennedy delivered the opinion of the Court.

In Dr. Miles Medical Co. v. John D. Park & Sons Co., 220 U.S. 373 (1911), the Court established the rule that it is per se illegal under § 1 of the Sherman Act for a manufacturer to agree with its distributor to set the minimum price the distributor can charge for the manufacturer’s goods. * * * The Court has abandoned the rule of per se illegality for other vertical restraints a manufacturer imposes on its distributors. Respected economic analysts, furthermore, conclude that vertical price restraints can have pro competitive effects. We now hold that Dr. Miles should be overruled and that vertical price restraints are to be judged by the rule of reason.