The Judgment Of Illegality Of Resale Price Maintenance With Reference To European,German And Chinese Law

The resale price maintenance is almost the hardest field both in anti-monopoly research and in anti-monopoly practices.The controversies in theory and the ambiguous attitude in practices lead to difficulties in the theory of competition law.In recent years,the enforcement of law in aspect of resale price maintenance has been worldwide strengthened.In the European Union and Germany,their attitudes towards it have been experiencing the transition from Per se Rule to Rule of Reason.During the judgment of individual case,the importance of economic reasonability analysis should be emphasized.Because of the complexity of this kind of agreements,they may restrict competition,but they often serve to improve efficiency at the same time.Anti-monopoly statutes offer little guidance about how to calculate gain and loss and how to choose a reasonable standard for resale price maintenance.But economic efficiency and consumer welfare are regarded as essential standard for weighing the advantages and disadvantages of agreements.In China,since the research is not mature,with reference to the experience of other countries,economic reasonability analysis has been introduced into the judgment of cases.Although there are slight differences in manners and results of judgment,such factors as market structure,market relationship and the position of participating companies in the related markets should be taken into consideration.In part one,through the introduction of a well-known case in China,the author puts forward the proposition and the framework of analysis as well as introduces the backgrounds and significances of the research.In part two,from non-legal perspective the author describes the overview of the resale price maintenance and analyze the meaning and purposes of reaching such agreements between producers and sellers.In part three,the author makes a comparative analysis of constitutive requirements of resale price maintenance in EU,German and Chinese law.The part four is the core part of this essay.To begin with three main competition theory as well as their views and attitudes towards such agreements,the author discusses their positive and negative impacts on economic efficiency in the market.According to these influences the author explains how to apply Per se Rule and Rule of Reason to solve the problem in EU,Germany and China.The part five deals with the possibilities of exemptions,which is divided into individual and collective exemptions.In part six,based on the study before,it comes to a conclusion.