Most price gouging laws have been in effect for upwards of five months. These laws were not designed for the length and national scope of the current pandemic, which has led to them unintentionally harming businesses and the economy, and ultimately consumers along the way. In a recent Fortune article, Proskauer’s antitrust lawyers Chris Ondeck … Continue Reading
Price gouging statutes typically operate by setting a baseline over which any price increase is presumptively illegal, subject to various exemptions. But different states use different formulas for their baselines. Businesses who provide covered goods or services therefore need to determine the relevant baselines in order to calculate whether, and how much of, a price … Continue Reading
State price gouging laws do not typically address product improvements or reformulations. Still, businesses should consider price gouging restrictions when releasing “new and improved” products, as the same pricing considerations that may apply to new products may also apply to improved, updated or reformulated products.… Continue Reading
While price gouging is often discussed in the context of existing products, new products and services may be covered as well. As a result, businesses looking to introduce new products during a price gouging emergency can seek guidance from the relevant price gouging laws before setting a price for their new good or service.… Continue Reading
Understanding and Reacting to New and Increased Risks Businesses are facing new and increased risks as they work to continue operations and meet changing demand. The unprecedented duration and nationwide scope of the emergency has created additional complexities for companies that operate on a nationwide basis. They often must comply with price gouging laws in … Continue Reading
As businesses figure out how to be creative and continue to operate during the pandemic, some have turned to “Covid surcharges” to account for new or increased costs. “Surcharges” may seem more benign than direct price increases. Still, they need to be considered with an eye towards compliance with local price gouging laws.… Continue Reading
Despite the continued implementation of state price gouging laws, many companies have been able to legally raise their prices by relying on exceptions related to cost increases. Many have asked whether the exception nevertheless presents risk to the extent it is used as a basis to maintain current margin levels. While this is not a settled … Continue Reading
As new restrictions addressing the economic impacts of COVID-19 continue to be proposed, some are targeting price increases for services. Businesses may want to re-familiarize themselves with the “services” covered by existing price gouging laws and pay close attention to developments, as they may cover unexpected areas.… Continue Reading
On June 3, 2020, Proskauer’s Antitrust Group hosted a webinar on what supply chain businesses should know about price gouging laws and regulations, and, during and after the webinar, we fielded some thoughtful follow-up questions from clients and friends who attended. We have collected and provided answers to the questions we received below in an … Continue Reading
As we reported here, the UK government announced that, as part of a package of measures to allow UK grocery supermarkets to work together to feed the nation during the COVID-19 crisis, certain provisions of UK competition law will be relaxed temporarily for the domestic food sector. The CMA has now published a document setting … Continue Reading
On March 23, 2020, the European Commission announced that all competition authorities in the European Competition Network (ECN) (the Commission, the European Surveillance Authority, and the national competition authorities of each EU/EEA Member State) issued a joint statement on how to apply the European competition rules during the COVID-19 crisis.… Continue Reading
