United States v. Topco Associates, Inc.

Decided March 29, 1972. Thurgood Marshall delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 70-82 · 405 U.S. 596 (1972) · Cited 788 times

Holding

The Topco scheme of allocating territories to minimize competition at the retail level is a horizontal restraint constituting a per se violation of 1 of the Sherman Act, and the District Court erred in applying a rule of reason to the restrictive practices here involved.

The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.

How the Justices voted

Decided 6–1.

“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.

• White Motor Co. v. United States · 372 U.S. 253 (1963)
• Northern Pacific Railway Co. v. United States · 356 U.S. 1 (1958)
• Timken Roller Bearing Co. v. United States · 341 U.S. 593 (1951)
• United States v. Arnold, Schwinn & Co. · 388 U.S. 365 (1967)
• United States v. Trenton Potteries Co. · 273 U.S. 392 (1927)
• United States v. Sealy, Inc. · 388 U.S. 350 (1967)
• United States v. National Lead Co. · 332 U.S. 319 (1947)
• United States v. Philadelphia National Bank · 374 U.S. 321 (1963)
• Fashion Originators' Guild of America, Inc. v. Federal Trade Commission · 312 U.S. 457 (1941)
• United States v. General Motors Corp. · 384 U.S. 127 (1966)
• United States v. American Tobacco Co. · 221 U.S. 106 (1911)
• United States v. Masonite Corp. · 316 U.S. 265 (1942)
• Citizen Publishing Co. v. United States · 394 U.S. 131 (1969)

Cited by

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

• Arizona v. Maricopa County Medical Society · 457 U.S. 332 (1982)
• Ohio v. American Express Co. · 585 U.S. 529 (2018)
• United States v. Citizens & Southern National Bank · 422 U.S. 86 (1975)
• Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. v. Zenith Radio Corporation · 475 U.S. 574 (1986)
• Atlantic Richfield Co. v. USA Petroleum Co. · 495 U.S. 328 (1990)
• National Collegiate Athletic Ass'n v. Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma · 468 U.S. 85 (1984)
• City of Lafayette v. Louisiana Power & Light Co. · 435 U.S. 389 (1978)
• Business Electronics Corp. v. Sharp Electronics Corp. · 485 U.S. 717 (1988)
• Leegin Creative Leather Products, Inc. v. PSKS, Inc. · 551 U.S. 877 (2007)
• Mitsubishi Motors Corp. v. Soler Chrysler-Plymouth, Inc. · 473 U.S. 614 (1985)
• United States v. United States Gypsum Co. · 438 U.S. 422 (1978)
• Continental T. v. Inc. v. GTE Sylvania Inc. · 433 U.S. 36 (1977)
• Broadcast Music, Inc. v. Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc. · 441 U.S. 1 (1979)
• Otter Tail Power Co. v. United States · 410 U.S. 366 (1973)
• Associated General Contractors of California, Inc. v. California State Council of Carpenters · 459 U.S. 519 (1983)
• National Society of Professional Engineers v. United States · 435 U.S. 679 (1978)
• Texas Industries, Inc. v. Radcliff Materials, Inc. · 451 U.S. 630 (1981)
• California Retail Liquor Dealers Assn. v. Midcal Aluminum, Inc. · 445 U.S. 97 (1980)
• Union Labor Life Insurance v. Pireno · 458 U.S. 119 (1982)
• Northwest Wholesale Stationers, Inc. v. Pacific Stationery & Printing Co. · 472 U.S. 284 (1985)
• Verizon Communications Inc. v. Law Offices of Curtis v. Trinko, LLP · 540 U.S. 398 (2004)
• Vendo Co. v. Lektro-Vend Corp. · 433 U.S. 623 (1977)
• Community Communications Co. v. City of Boulder · 455 U.S. 40 (1982)
• St. Paul Fire & Marine Insurance v. Barry · 438 U.S. 531 (1978)
• Flood v. Kuhn · 407 U.S. 258 (1972)
• Federal Trade Commission v. Superior Court Trial Lawyers Ass'n · 493 U.S. 411 (1990)
• Palmer v. BRG of Georgia, Inc. · 498 U.S. 46 (1990)
• Federal Trade Commission v. Ticor Title Insurance · 504 U.S. 621 (1992)
• 324 Liquor Corp. v. Duffy · 479 U.S. 335 (1987)
• Tidewater Oil Co. v. United States · 409 U.S. 151 (1972)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1972). 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).