In Leegin Creative Leather Prods. v. PSKS Inc., the U.S. Supreme Court held that vertical price-fixing agreements were subject to the rule of reason, overruling a century-old decision that found that such agreements were per se illegal. Since Leegin was decided, efforts have been made in Congress to overturn the Supreme Court’s decision and reinstate a per se ban on vertical price-fixing. Such legislation recently was sent to the House of Representatives, which will now consider H.R. 3190, known as the Discount Pricing Consumer Protection Act of 2009. The House Judiciary Committee gave its approval to the bill on January 13. The House bill, introduced July 13, 2009, by Rep. Henry Johnson (D-Ga.), mirrors a similar bill introduced in January 2009 by Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.), which is still under consideration in the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Read more.