|
|
Ftc v. Anjeuser-Busch, Inc., 363 U.S. 536 (1960)
Contents:
Show Summary
Hide Summary
General SummaryThis case is from a collection containing the full text of over 16,000 Supreme Court cases from 1793 to the present. The body of Supreme Court decisions are, effectively, the final interpretation of the Constitution. Only an amendment to the Constitution can permanently overturn an interpretation and this has happened only four times in American history.
Ftc v. Anjeuser-Busch, Inc., 363 U.S. 536 (1960)
FTC v. Anjeuser-Busch, Inc. No. 389 Argued March 2, 1960 Decided June 20, 1960 363 U.S. 536
CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE SEVENTH CIRCUIT
Syllabus
The Federal Trade Commission found that respondent, a leading national brewer which sells a so-called premium beer at higher prices than the beers of regional and local breweries in the great majority of markets, had reduced its prices only to those customers in the St. Louis area, while maintaining higher prices to all purchasers outside the St. Louis area, and thereby had "discriminated in price" as between purchasers differently located, and that this had diverted substantial business from respondent’s St. Louis competitors, had substantially lessened competition and tended to create a monopoly, in violation of § 2(a) of the Clayton Act, as amended by the Robinson-Patman Act, and it ordered respondent to cease and desist. The Court of Appeals concluded that the statutory element of price discrimination had not been established, and it set aside the Commission’s order on this ground alone.
Held: the Court of Appeals erred in its construction of § 2(a); the evidence warranted the Commission’s finding of price discrimination, and the judgment is reversed and the case is remanded for further proceedings. Pp. 537-554.
(a) Section 2(a) is violated when there is a price discrimination which deals the requisite injury to sellers’ or "primary line" competition, even though buyers’ or "secondary line" and "tertiary line" competition are unaffected. Pp. 542-545.
(b) The Court of Appeals erred in concluding that, since all competing purchasers paid respondent the same price, so far as the record disclosed, respondent’s price cuts were not discriminatory. Pp. 545-546.
(c) A price discrimination within the meaning of the portion of § 2(a) here involved is merely a price difference; and, in order to establish such a price discrimination, it is not necessary to show that the lower price is below cost or unreasonably low for the purpose or design to eliminate competition, and thereby obtain a monopoly. Pp. 546-553.
265 F.2d 677 reversed.
Contents:
Chicago: U.S. Supreme Court, "Syllabus," Ftc v. Anjeuser-Busch, Inc., 363 U.S. 536 (1960) in 363 U.S. 536 363 U.S. 537. Original Sources, accessed November 24, 2024, http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=MG1S8WHMIPWA3NC.
MLA: U.S. Supreme Court. "Syllabus." Ftc v. Anjeuser-Busch, Inc., 363 U.S. 536 (1960), in 363 U.S. 536, page 363 U.S. 537. Original Sources. 24 Nov. 2024. http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=MG1S8WHMIPWA3NC.
Harvard: U.S. Supreme Court, 'Syllabus' in Ftc v. Anjeuser-Busch, Inc., 363 U.S. 536 (1960). cited in 1960, 363 U.S. 536, pp.363 U.S. 537. Original Sources, retrieved 24 November 2024, from http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=MG1S8WHMIPWA3NC.
|