“Minimum Advertised Price” policies and the dividing line between price and non-price restraints – An analysis under U.S. antitrust and EU competition law in view of recent UK decisions

Abstract“Minimum Advertised Price” (MAP) policies prohibit retailers from advertising prices below a certain amount fixed by their suppliers. Legally, they leave the final decision on resale pricing to the retailers. However, given that, especially in the context of online sales, the communication of discounts through advertising is one of the retailers’ “key incentives” for price competition, MAP policies raise specific issues as to where the dividing line between (unlawful) price and (lawful) non-price restraints in vertical agreements is drawn. In this respect, the following contribution analyses MAP policies both under U.S. antitrust and EU competition law. With regard to the latter, it will particularly focus on two recent UK decisions.