On September 14, 2022, an antitrust lawsuit was filed against Amazon, the biggest online retailer in the world, in violation of California’s unfair competition law and the Cartwright Act by forging the abilities of online retailers to compete, contributing Amazon’s dominance and harming merchants and consumers through inflated fees and higher prices.

This lawsuit was filed by California’s Attorney General Rob Bonta in San Francisco Superior Court. According to Mr. Bonta, Amazon had forced the third party sellers to offer their lowest prices only on Amazon by using a contractual term called “price parity.” Amazon denied any antitrust violations and said Mr. Bonta’s had it exactly backwards. Amazon further pointed out that a similar case in the District of Columbia was dismissed by a Judge in March, 2022.

According to Brand Value (China) Network, Amazon is not only the biggest online retailer but also a brand giant. From a brand building point of view, Amazon needs to take California’s antitrust lawsuit seriously because lawmakers and regulators in the U.S. and abroad have investigated Amazon for potential practices for years. Amazon’s practices are included in an important first indicator called “public opinion” of China Brand Value Evaluation Standard”.Public opinion means “the opinion or attitude of the public regarding a particular matter.”

Apple, another brand giant, is also facing antitrust lawsuit which has headed to Supreme Court. According to Brand Value (China) Network, Apple Inc. could be in the crosshairs of a potential antitrust lawsuit by the Justice Department by the end of 2022.

   On the ranking of “The 2nd Daguan·Keweiwei World Brand Value Top 900 ”released on January 13, 2022, Amazon’s brand value was 18587.96 billion RMB, ranking the 2rd.

作者：杨瑞安