Atlantic Richfield Co. v. USA Petroleum Co.

Decided May 14, 1990. William Joseph Brennan Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 88-1668 · 495 U.S. 328 (1990) · Cited 783 times

We don’t yet publish a summary of this opinion — read the official text below for the Court’s holding and reasoning.

How the Justices voted

Decided 7–2.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• Albrecht v. Herald Co. · 390 U.S. 145 (1968)
• Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. v. Zenith Radio Corporation · 475 U.S. 574 (1986)
• Cargill, Inc. v. Monfort of Colorado, Inc. · 479 U.S. 104 (1986)
• Brunswick Corp. v. Pueblo Bowl-O-Mat, Inc. · 429 U.S. 477 (1977)
• Arizona v. Maricopa County Medical Society · 457 U.S. 332 (1982)
• National Collegiate Athletic Ass'n v. Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma · 468 U.S. 85 (1984)
• United States v. Trenton Potteries Co. · 273 U.S. 392 (1927)
• Continental T. v. Inc. v. GTE Sylvania Inc. · 433 U.S. 36 (1977)
• Associated General Contractors of California, Inc. v. California State Council of Carpenters · 459 U.S. 519 (1983)
• United States v. Socony-Vacuum Oil Co. · 310 U.S. 150 (1940)
• United States v. Topco Associates, Inc. · 405 U.S. 596 (1972)
• Blue Shield of Va. v. McCready · 457 U.S. 465 (1982)
• Kiefer-Stewart Co. v. Joseph E. Seagram & Sons, Inc. · 340 U.S. 211 (1951)
• United States v. Masonite Corp. · 316 U.S. 265 (1942)
• Brown Shoe Co. v. United States · 370 U.S. 294 (1962)
• Copperweld Corp. v. Independence Tube Corp. · 467 U.S. 752 (1984)
• National Society of Professional Engineers v. United States · 435 U.S. 679 (1978)
• Monsanto Co. v. Spray-Rite Service Corp. · 465 U.S. 752 (1984)
• Simpson v. Union Oil Co. of Cal. · 377 U.S. 13 (1964)
• Appalachian Coals, Inc. v. United States · 288 U.S. 344 (1933)
• United States v. Diebold, Inc. · 369 U.S. 654 (1962)
• Jefferson Parish Hospital District No. 2 v. Hyde · 466 U.S. 2 (1984)
• United States v. Trans-Missouri Freight Assn. · 166 U.S. 290 (1897)
• Fashion Originators' Guild of America, Inc. v. Federal Trade Commission · 312 U.S. 457 (1941)
• White Motor Co. v. United States · 372 U.S. 253 (1963)
• United States v. Parke, Davis & Co. · 362 U.S. 29 (1960)
• United States v. Arnold, Schwinn & Co. · 388 U.S. 365 (1967)
• Business Electronics Corp. v. Sharp Electronics Corp. · 485 U.S. 717 (1988)
• United States v. General Motors Corp. · 384 U.S. 127 (1966)
• United States v. American Tobacco Co. · 221 U.S. 106 (1911)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• Comcast Corp. v. Behrend · 569 U.S. 27 (2013)
• Brooke Group Ltd. v. Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp. · 509 U.S. 209 (1993)
• Leegin Creative Leather Products, Inc. v. PSKS, Inc. · 551 U.S. 877 (2007)
• Pacific Bell Telephone Co. v. Linkline Communications, Inc. · 555 U.S. 438 (2009)
• Ohio v. American Express Co. · 585 U.S. 529 (2018)
• Medical Marijuana, Inc. v. Horn · 604 U.S. 593 (2025)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

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William Joseph Brennan Jr.’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: the U.S. Reports via govinfo.gov; authoring Justice and vote lineup from the Supreme Court Database (Washington University). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).