Online sales question about anti-competitive conduct, or fair-trade practices?

[Quest4]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Wisconsin.

Not sure what sub-form to use, so I hope this is the one.

Online sales question about anti-competitive conduct, or fair-trade practices?

"Every person who shall monopolize, or attempt to monopolize, or combine or conspire with any other person or persons, to monopolize any part of the trade or commerce among the several States, or with foreign nations, shall be deemed guilty of a felony, and, on conviction thereof, shall be punished by fine not exceeding $100,000,000 if a corporation, or, if any other person, $1,000,000, or by imprisonment not exceeding 10 years, or by both said punishments, in the discretion of the court."
Sherman Act 1890 §2​

Supplier 1 located in Minnesota offers manufacturer product X on website A. Supplier 1 now ranks at position 1 in Google when searching for product X. Manufacturer (located in Canada) also offers same product X on manufacturer's website B. There are many other suppliers in several different states who also offer the same product X branded as same on many other websites. Product X is widely known in this product niche.

As supplier N, located in Wisconsin, we purchase product X from manufacturer for use in our own custom products, which we sell on our web site, and have also offered product X for retail sale as a separate item on our website until yesterday. Our website appears today on Google page 1 results when searching for product X.

Manufacturer has contacted us verbally this week, requesting that we not offer product X on our website as a separate item, claiming that supplier A has an exclusive distributorship for product X from manufacturer. We have reluctantly removed the product X from our website. However we noticed many other websites are still offering the same product.

Can manufacturer offer product X on website B while supplier A offers same product X on website A, and many other suppliers in various states offer same product X, at various prices, on various websites, and yet prevent us from offering product X on our website at a different price?

What course of action would you suggest? Would the FTC be open to investigating this unfair business practice? Should we put the product X back on our website, and tell the supplier they cannot refuse to allow us to do so while many others offer product X on different websites at various prices?

 

[quincy]

What course of action would I suggest? I would suggest you have all facts personally reviewed by an attorney in your area before putting Product X back on your website.

Unfair business practices covers a whole host of things (trademark infringement, false advertising, false designation of origin, palming off. . .) and these are generally covered under state laws - although the Lanham Act offers some avenues to explore (see Lanham Act, 15 USC 1125: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/15/1125).

To access the laws that may be pertinent to your situation, you can look to Wisconsin statutes, Chapter 100 Marketing; Trade Practice: http://statutes.laws.com/wisconsin/100/100.20.

Or, because I notice you have California listed as a state as well as Wisconsin, California Business and Professions Code, Sections 17200-17210, can be accessed through: http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=bpc&group=17001-18000&file=17200-17210.

A personal review by an attorney in your area, of what exactly is going on with the manufacturer of Product X and its distributors, will be the best way to determine if there is any unfair business practice worthy of government attention.

Good luck.