Legal Question in Business Law in New Jersey

Restraint of trade

I am an independent manufacturers representative. In a meeting to present the products of one of my clients to a prospective customer, the customer told me not to sell the product to his competitor (both are large national chains in the same line of business). The implication was that this would be a condition of doing business with his company. Is it illegal for one retailer to tell a manufacturer not to do business with another retailer?


Asked on 7/22/06, 1:34 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
John Corbett Corbett Law Firm LLC

Re: Restraint of trade

Any agreement not to deal with another party in a commercial context should automatically be suspected as a possible unlawful restraint of trade. Some such deals are anti-competitive per se. Most are not. Whether or not there is a violation depends on the conditions in the specific market.

You should first seek the advice of the legal staff of the company providing the product. If there is some reason why you can't do that, you can contact me using the informatation linked to this reply.

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Answered on 7/22/06, 10:28 pm


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