Supreme Court Overturns Century Old Rule that Vertical Price Restraints are Per Se Illegal

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that vertical minimum price restraints (sometimes referred to as resale price maintenance or "RPM" agreements) are not per se illegal, but rather are subject to review under the rule of reason.  In reaching this result in a 5-4 decision, the Court, in an opinion by Justice Kennedy, explicitly overruled its contrary 1911 decision in Dr. Miles Medical Co. v. John D. Park & Sons Co.