Research Upon Resale Price Maintenance Regulated By Antitrust Law

Agree-merits among competitors is one of the main regulatory body of antitrust law, as one ofthe typical vertical restraint conducts, Resale Price Maintenance(RPM)is naturally regulated byantitrust law. However, the RPM have some kind of complexity and uncertainty: Some scholarsbelieve that RPM directly restricts competition within the brand, and will ultimately harm the interestsof consumers. Thus RPM is the key that the upstream enterprises, especially the manufacturers, use tocontrol its distribution system and grab the maximum benefit in the process of commodity circulation.While other scholars believe that RPM still has many positive effects, like promoting inter-brandcompetition on the market of similar goods, avoiding "free riding", and even protecting the healthydevelopment of some special industries.For the mode of RPM regulated by antitrust law, various countries and regions are also differentbecause of its historical background and the level of awareness of the RPM and antitrust law, but theoverall trend in the regulatory process is increasingly focused on the analysis and considerations ofthe legal economic effects of RPM. The United States as the country of origin of contemporaryantitrust, its attitude toward RPM went from the stringent per se invalid to reasonable analysis. TheEU has taken the principal of immunity against exception mode, through continuous improvement ofthe exemption criteria, making the regulations on RPM more rational and fair.To do researches on the antitrust regulation mode of RPM of developed countries and regions,the ultimate goal remains for our reference. The legislative regulations on RPM from China’santi-monopoly law can be seen as the legal migration of EU model. However, due to the latepromulgation, but also a lack of experience in judicial practice, there is still room for improvement ofChina’s anti-monopoly law. China is in a period of rapid development of market economy, through thelearning of advanced foreign experience, there is no doubt that China’s anti-monopoly law woulddevelop, and so would China’s market environment and economic development.