22
Opinion of the Court
restraints in the American economy today.' " GTE Sylvania, supra, at 53, n. 21 (quoting Schwinn, 388 U. S., at 392 (Stewart, J., concurring in part and dissenting in part)). As the Court noted in ARCO, 495 U. S., at 336, n. 6, there has not been another case since Albrecht in which this Court has "confronted an unadulterated vertical, maximum-price-fixing arrangement." Now that we confront Albrecht directly, we find its conceptual foundations gravely weakened.
In overruling Albrecht, we of course do not hold that all vertical maximum price fixing is per se lawful. Instead, vertical maximum price fixing, like the majority of commercial arrangements subject to the antitrust laws, should be evaluated under the rule of reason. In our view, rule-of-reason analysis will effectively identify those situations in which vertical maximum price fixing amounts to anticompetitive conduct.
There remains the question whether respondents are entitled to recover damages based on State Oil's conduct. Although the Court of Appeals noted that "the district judge was right to conclude that if the rule of reason is applicable, Khan loses," 93 F. 3d, at 1362, its consideration of this case was necessarily premised on Albrecht's per se rule. Under the circumstances, the matter should be reviewed by the Court of Appeals in the first instance. We therefore vacate the judgment of the Court of Appeals and remand the case for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
It is so ordered.
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