Drocket
03-26-2007, 08:44 AM
Bargain hunters everywhere have an unwitting patron saint they've probably never heard of. His name is Dr. Miles. His days may be numbered.
It is because of Dr. Miles that anyone who has ever watched "The Price Is Right" knows that the manufacturer's retail price is only suggested. It is his unintended legacy that shoppers have developed the unshakable belief that if they only look hard enough, they can find the same product somewhere else for less money.
But tomorrow, the Supreme Court will hear arguments that it should do away with its nearly century-old opinion in Dr. Miles Medical Co. v. John D. Park & Sons Co., a decision that has meant retailers are free to price products at less than what the manufacturer thinks they should. Dr. Miles, whose company later changed its name to Miles Laboratories, wanted to set a minimum price for his elixirs.
----------
The court has shown little reluctance to relax or even reverse antitrust rulings in light of changing economic reality, and it seems unlikely that the justices would have decided to hear Leegin's direct challenge of the rule unless they were seriously considering a change.
"I think there's almost no chance that Dr. Miles will survive," said Gavil, the law professor.
The question is what rule will replace it.
Link (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/24/AR2007032400947.html)
It is because of Dr. Miles that anyone who has ever watched "The Price Is Right" knows that the manufacturer's retail price is only suggested. It is his unintended legacy that shoppers have developed the unshakable belief that if they only look hard enough, they can find the same product somewhere else for less money.
But tomorrow, the Supreme Court will hear arguments that it should do away with its nearly century-old opinion in Dr. Miles Medical Co. v. John D. Park & Sons Co., a decision that has meant retailers are free to price products at less than what the manufacturer thinks they should. Dr. Miles, whose company later changed its name to Miles Laboratories, wanted to set a minimum price for his elixirs.
----------
The court has shown little reluctance to relax or even reverse antitrust rulings in light of changing economic reality, and it seems unlikely that the justices would have decided to hear Leegin's direct challenge of the rule unless they were seriously considering a change.
"I think there's almost no chance that Dr. Miles will survive," said Gavil, the law professor.
The question is what rule will replace it.
Link (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/24/AR2007032400947.html)