MAP Policies

Whether a MAP policy actually helps or hurts sales, and why brands worried about top-line impact are often solving the wrong problem.

Five steps to an Authorized Reseller Program that protects your brand: IP licensing, maintenance requirements, distributor vetting and enforceable terms.

Why a race-to-the-bottom pricing environment hurts every brand, and how to build a MAP policy that protects value without alienating resellers.

Why brands aren't required to enforce MAP uniformly across every reseller, and how to handle exception requests without undermining the policy.

Why authorized resellers cause more MAP violations than outsiders, why retailers can't enforce for you, and how to build prevention into your strategy.

How MAP and ARP work together, how to vet and sign new resellers, and how to keep an authorized network compliant and loyal long-term.

Why vetting new retail accounts today means more than a credit check, and the systematic approach brands can use to screen for diversion risk upfront.

If a brand chooses to write MAP violation warning letters themselves, there are some considerations it should keep in mind.

Patents, trademarks, copyrights, MAP, and enforcement: Jeremy Richardson lays out the three-part legal foundation every brand needs before a problem shows up.

A signature line can turn a lawful MAP policy into an illegal price-fixing agreement. Attorney Jeremy Richardson explains the line brands can't afford to cross.

From free shipping to MAP holidays to click-for-price rules, Jeremy Richardson runs through what belongs, and never belongs, in a MAP policy.

Authorized reseller policies do more than MAP ever could: quality control, channel limits, and a real defense against the first sale doctrine.

Whether to allow MAP holidays during major sales events like Black Friday and Cyber Monday, and how to do it without losing pricing control.

Why enforcing a MAP policy is like enforcing any rule with real consequences, and how brands lose credibility the moment they stop following through.

Why copying a competitor's MAP policy is risky, and the must-have provisions a legally sound, enforceable MAP policy actually needs.

How iMAP differs from a traditional MAP policy online, and whether brands should enforce the two the same way or treat them as separate rules.

Why a MAP policy doesn’t have to cover every product, and how to choose which SKUs are worth protecting.