Principles of U.S. Antitrust Law and Studies on Typical Cases

Author: Shen Sibao
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-12-01
Features: Antitrust law, as one of the important laws used by countries to combat unfair domestic competition, is a crucial tool for market economy countries to maintain market order and ensure the normal operation of the market economy. In the process of building a socialist market economy, China is gradually shifting from government regulation of the economy to market regulation. The operation of a market economy relies on the market playing a full role, with market participants freely engaging in competition to achieve optimal resource allocation. However, when large enterprises manipulate the market or firms collude to suppress competitors to achieve monopoly, market signals fail, competition no longer centers on survival of the fittest and technological development, and competitors inevitably adopt actions contrary to market principles, severely harming the interests of market participants and consumers. Antitrust law regulates excessive market power and opposes unfair market practices to protect and expand the freedom of businesses in market activities, eliminate barriers to market entry, and establish a fully competitive market structure.
The United States is one of the earliest countries to establish antitrust laws. In 1890, the U.S. federal government passed a national antitrust law—the Sherman Act (Protecting Trade and Commerce from Unlawful Restraint and Monopoly). Subsequently, the Clayton Act and the Federal Trade Commission Act, as well as a series of statutes like the Robinson-Patman Act, formed the framework of U.S. antitrust law. The United States is a common law country, where statutes provide only basic and principle-based regulations. Case law constitutes the substantive core of the law, with judges deepening and refining the principles in statutes through their rulings, making them actionable. As one of the most developed common law countries, the United States has established a mature and well-developed system of case editing and publication, providing excellent conditions for case studies.
This book focuses on the principles and case studies of U.S. antitrust law, combining research on principles with case analysis to examine the rule system and application of U.S. antitrust law. It systematically introduces the most important illegal monopoly forms under U.S. antitrust law, including market monopoly, intent to monopolize, horizontal restraint agreements, vertical restraint agreements, monopoly collusion, mergers and acquisitions, predatory pricing, price discrimination, tying sales, and abuse of intellectual property, along with relevant regulations and classic cases. The author hopes to maximize the application of U.S. legislative and practical experience by researching and analyzing these issues in conjunction with China's actual conditions, thereby providing references for China's antitrust legislation and judicial practice.
This book focuses on the development history of U.S. antitrust law, the interplay between statutes, the evolution and comparison of case law, and practical issues underlying legal provisions, as well as the relationship between economics and law. It aims to help China's antitrust regulatory agencies understand the perspectives of U.S. scholars and judges on relevant issues, as well as the enforcement experience of regulatory bodies, to maintain domestic market order. The findings of this book can provide a comprehensive foundation for further academic research, offer relevant legal knowledge to legal professionals and businesses in China, and serve as a practical reference for university teaching.
During the specific research and writing process of this book, the author was greatly assisted and guided by the faculty of the School of Law at the University of International Business and Economics. Special thanks are also extended to graduate students Cai Zhuosen, Gong Yifeng, Cao Yuxuan, Ouyang Fangfei, and Wang Wanjun for their participation in case translation and data organization. The research and writing of this book were supported by the "15th Five-Year Plan" and "Project 211" of the University of International Business and Economics.
We sincerely hope this book will contribute to the study of China's antitrust law. If there are any shortcomings, we kindly invite readers to provide feedback for improvement.