Maryland. Practice Text

Chapter 23

for the

STATE OF MARYLAND

Updated and Revised by

Paolo Morante, Esq.

Ming-Qi Chu, Esq.

DLA Piper LLP (US)

The Section of Antitrust Law thanks Ellen S. Cooper, Assistant Attorney General and

Chief, Antitrust Division, Maryland Attorney General’s Office, for her review of this

chapter.

The Section gratefully acknowledges Michael F. Brockmeyer, Esq., Thomas M.

Wilson III, Esq., Spencer Stiefel, Esq., Forrest W. Treat, Esq., and Neha Dewan,

Esq., for their work on this chapter in prior editions.

Maryland 23-iii

CONTENTS

1.



Introduction ................................................................................................... 1



1.a.



Overview .......................................................................................... 1



1.b.



Source of Law–Statutes and Other ................................................... 1



1.c.



History .............................................................................................. 1



1.d.



Relation to Federal Law ................................................................... 2



1.e.



Remedies .......................................................................................... 2



1.f.



Enforcement ..................................................................................... 2



2.



The Per Se Rule and the Rule of Reason ....................................................... 3



3.



Horizontal Agreements Other Than Group Boycotts .................................... 4



3.a.



Price Fixing ...................................................................................... 4



3.b.



Market Allocation ............................................................................ 4



3.c.



Customer Allocation ........................................................................ 5



3.d.



Bid Rigging ...................................................................................... 5



3.e.



Covenants Not to Compete .............................................................. 5



4.



Group Boycotts .............................................................................................. 6



4.a.



Concerted Refusals to Deal .............................................................. 6



4.b.



Expulsion or Exclusion from Membership in Trade

Associations or Other Groups .......................................................... 7



5.



Resale Price Maintenance .............................................................................. 7



5.a.



Generally .......................................................................................... 7



5.b.



Monsanto Rule ................................................................................. 8



5.c.



Impact of Leegin .............................................................................. 9



6.



Nonprice Vertical Restraints–Intrabrand ..................................................... 10



7.



Nonprice Vertical Restraints–Interbrand ..................................................... 10



8.



Tying Arrangements .................................................................................... 10



9.



Dual Distribution ......................................................................................... 12



10.



Intracorporate Conspiracy............................................................................ 13



11.



Monopolization ............................................................................................ 13



11.a.



Monopolization .............................................................................. 13



11.b.



Attempts to Monopolize ................................................................. 14



11.c.



Monopoly Leveraging .................................................................... 14



11.d.



Predatory Pricing ............................................................................ 15



11.e.



Conspiracy to Monopolize ............................................................. 15



12.



Mergers ........................................................................................................ 16



13.



Discrimination & Other Single Firm Pricing Regulation ............................ 16



13.a.



Price Discrimination ...................................................................... 16



13.a.1.



Territorial or Locality Discrimination ......................... 17



13.a.2.



Buyer Liability ............................................................ 18



13.a.3.



Meeting Competition Defense .................................... 18



13.a.4.



Functional Classifications ........................................... 19



13.a.5.



Preemption .................................................................. 19



13.a.6.



Other Defenses and Exemptions ................................. 19



13.a.7.



Brokerage .................................................................... 20



13.a.8.



Secret Payments or Allowances .................................. 20

