US: Supreme Court won’t hear McWane appeal of monopoly ruling

The US Supreme Court on Monday declined to review an appeal by Birmingham-based McWane Inc. of a Federal Trade Commission antitrust ruling.

In April 2015 the US 11th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the FTC’s 2014 ruling that McWane illegally had a policy aimed at keeping distributors from buying elsewhere so it could maintain a monopoly on the US -made ductile iron pipe fittings market. The company then appealed to the US Supreme Court.

The FTC had said the pipe company violated a section of the Federal Trade Commission Act that prohibits ”unfair or deceptive acts or practices” affecting commerce.

McWane got support for its appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court from several groups, including 17 professors of antitrust law and economics. The professors’ brief stated that “they share a common view that antitrust law should not penalize vertical agreements unless they are shown to harm competition under this Court’s jurisprudence. They are concerned that the decisions below could chill beneficial competition and have adverse effects for consumer welfare.”

“We are obviously disappointed that the Court did not take this opportunity to clarify the law in this area and correct the errors of the FTC and lower court. However, this does not end the issue, as we will continue to fight the private party cases where the legal standard and evidentiary requirements are much more rigorous, and there is no agency deference in play,” said Michael Jones, Assistant Vice President for Corporate Communications at McWane.

Full content: Reuters

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