Antitrust

Extracted Attributes

• Purpose

  Promote or maintain market competition by regulating anti-competitive conduct by companies

• Enforcement

  Public and private enforcement

• Jurisdiction

  National (primarily domestic, can extend extraterritorially based on 'effects doctrine'), International (governed by international competition agreements)

• Also known as

  Competition law, Anti-monopoly law, Trade practices law

• Key US Statutes

  Sherman Act of 1890, Clayton Act of 1914, Federal Trade Commission Act of 1914

• Historical Origin

  Roman Empire

• US Enforcement Bodies

  Federal Trade Commission, US Department of Justice, state government and private parties

• Criminal Penalties (US)

  Up to 10 years in prison, fines up to $100,000,000 for corporations, $1,000,000 for individuals

Timeline

• The history of competition law reaches back to the Roman Empire. (Source: Wikipedia)

  0000-00-00

• The Sherman Antitrust Act is passed, forming the core of US antitrust policy. (Source: Web Search - History of United States antitrust law)

  1890-00-00

• The Clayton Act is passed as a key US antitrust statute. (Source: Web Search - United States antitrust law)

  1914-00-00

• The Federal Trade Commission Act is passed, establishing the Federal Trade Commission. (Source: Web Search - United States antitrust law)

  1914-00-00

• Limited international competition obligations are proposed during negotiations preceding the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). (Source: Wikipedia)

  1945-00-00

• The World Trade Organization (WTO) is created, including limited provisions on various cross-border competition issues. (Source: Wikipedia)

  1994-00-00

• Since the late 20th century, competition law has become increasingly global. (Source: Wikipedia)

  1900-00-00

Competition law

Competition law is the field of law that promotes or seeks to maintain market competition by regulating anti-competitive conduct by companies. Competition law is implemented through public and private enforcement. It is also known as antitrust law (or just antitrust), anti-monopoly law, and trade practices law; the act of pushing for antitrust measures or attacking monopolistic companies (known as trusts) is commonly known as trust busting. The history of competition law reaches back to the Roman Empire. The business practices of market traders, guilds, and governments have always been subject to scrutiny, and sometimes severe sanctions. Since the late 20th century, competition law has become increasingly global. The two largest and most influential systems of competition regulation are United States antitrust law and European Union competition law. National and regional competition authorities across the world have formed international support and enforcement networks. Modern competition law has historically evolved on a national level to promote and maintain fair competition in markets principally within the territorial boundaries of nation-states. National competition law usually does not cover activity beyond territorial borders unless it has significant effects at the nation-state level. Countries may allow for extraterritorial jurisdiction in competition cases based on so-called "effects doctrine". The protection of international competition is governed by international competition agreements. In 1945, during the negotiations preceding the adoption of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in 1947, limited international competition obligations were proposed within the Charter for an International Trade Organization. These obligations were not included in GATT, but in 1994, with the conclusion of the Uruguay Round of GATT multilateral negotiations, the World Trade Organization (WTO) was created. The Agreement Establishing the WTO included a range of limited provisions on various cross-border competition issues on a sector specific basis.

Web Search Results

• United States antitrust law

  In the United States, antitrust law is a collection of mostly federal laws that govern the conduct and organization of businesses in order to promote economic competition "Competition (economics)") and prevent unjustified monopolies. The three main U.S. antitrust statutes are the Sherman Act of 1890, the Clayton Act of 1914, and the Federal Trade Commission Act of 1914. Section 1 of the Sherman Act prohibits price fixing and the operation of cartels, and prohibits other collusive practices that [...] In the United States and Canada, and to a lesser extent in the European Union, the modern law governing monopolies and economic competition is known by its original name — "antitrust law". The term "antitrust" came from late 19th-century American industrialists' practice of using trusts—legal arrangements where one is given ownership of property to hold solely for another's benefit—to consolidate separate companies into large conglomerates.( These "corporate trusts "Trust (business)")" died out [...] Download as PDF Printable version In other projects Wikidata item From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia American legal system intended to promote competition among businesses Image 9 "The Bosses of the Senate", an 1889 political cartoon by Joseph Keppler depicting corporate interests—from steel, copper, oil, iron, sugar, tin, and coal to paper bags, envelopes, and salt—as giant money bags looming over the tiny senators at their desks in the Chamber of the United States Senate(

• Famous Antitrust Cases of the Last Century

  .jpg "Metropolitan Transportation Authority of the State of New York [CC BY 2.0 ( via Wikimedia Commons")The US antitrust law is a collection of federal and state government laws that regulates the conduct and organization of business corporations to promote fair competition for the benefit of consumers. It exists to keep a check on companies to prevent the formation of monopolies, which can limit consumer choices and be detrimental to the economy in the long run. [...] The Federal Trade Commission, the US Department of Justice and state government and private parties that are deeply affected by antitrust practices can bring cases like these to courts to enforce the laws. The scope of antitrust laws is a debate among lawmakers and different governments. One the one hand, it protects small businesses from being forced out of the market due to unfair competition, and on the other hand, it is unfair to the services and inventions of private parties as they are

• antitrust | Wex | US Law | LII / Legal Information Institute

  Please help us improve our site! No thank you Cornell Law School Search Cornell # antitrust Antitrust refers to the regulation of the concentration of economic power, particularly in regard to monopolies and other anticompetitive practices. Antitrust laws exist as both federal statutes and state statutes. The three key federal statutes in Antitrust Law are; [...] Violating antitrust laws carry both criminal and civil penalties though in practice civil penalties are more common. When they occur, criminal prosecutions are limited to intentional and clear violations. Criminal penalties can include up to 10 years in prison and fines of up to $100,000,000 for corporations and $1,000,000 for individuals. In practice, combined with civil penalties, actual fines for violating antitrust laws can be far higher and occasionally reach into the billions. [...] For more in-depth information, see Antitrust laws and price-fixing Last reviewed in November of 2024 by the [Wex Definitions Team] antitrust Sherman Antitrust Act federal law state law competition UNFAIR COMPETITION unfair price competition COMMERCE antitrust wex articles

• History of United States antitrust law - Wikipedia

  The antitrust laws came to be seen by the Supreme Court as a "charter of freedom", designed to protect free enterprise in America. One view of the statutory purpose, urged for example by Justice Douglas, was that the goal was not only to protect consumers, but at least as importantly to prohibit the use of power to control the marketplace. [...] "If we will not endure a king as a political power we should not endure a king over the production, transportation, and sale of any of the necessaries of life." Congress passed the Sherman Antitrust Act almost unanimously in 1890, and it remains the core of antitrust policy. The Act makes it illegal to try to restrain trade or to form a monopoly. It gives the Justice Department the mandate to go to federal court for orders to stop illegal behavior or to impose remedies. [...] The history of United States antitrust law is generally taken to begin with the Sherman Antitrust Act 1890, although some form of policy to regulate competition in the market economy has existed throughout the common law's history. Although "trust" had a technical legal meaning, the word was commonly used to denote big business, especially a large, growing manufacturing conglomerate "Conglomerate (company)") of the sort that suddenly emerged in great numbers in the 1880s and 1890s. The

• The Antitrust Laws - Department of Justice

  The Antitrust Division also enforces other federal laws to fight illegal activities that arise from anticompetitive conduct, which includes offenses that impact the integrity of an antitrust or related investigation. Examples include: conspiracies to defraud the United States, mail and wire fraud, money laundering, kickbacks, false statements to Federal agents, perjury, and obstruction of justice, and bribery, among other crimes. Read more about the activities of the Antitrust Division: