An Act to Protect Trade and Commerce Against Unlawful Restraints and Monopolies
Enacted by
the 51st United States Congress
Citations
Statutes at Large
26 Stat. 209
Legislative history
Introduced in the Senate by John Sherman (R–OH)
Passed the Senate on April 8, 1890 (52–1)
Passed the House on June 20, 1890 (unanimous vote)
Signed into law by President Benjamin Harrison on July 2, 1890
United States Supreme Court cases
List
United States v. E.C. Knight Co., 156 U.S. 1 (1894)
United States v. Trans-Missouri Freight Association, 166 U.S. 290 (1897)
Northern Securities Co. v. United States, 193 U.S. 197 (1904)
Hale v. Henkel, 201 U.S. 43 (1906)
Dr. Miles Medical Co. v. John D. Park & Sons Co., 220 U.S. 373 (1911)
Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey v. United States, 221 U.S. 1 (1911)
United States v. American Tobacco Co., 221 U.S. 106 (1911)
Federal Baseball Club v. National League, 259 U.S. 200 (1922)
Apex Hosiery Co. v. Leader, 310 U.S. 469 (1940)
United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc., 334 U.S. 131 (1948)
United States v. National City Lines, 334 U.S. 573 (1948)
Kiefer-Stewart Co. v. Seagram & Sons, Inc., 340 U.S. 211 (1951)
Lorain Journal Co. v. United States, 342 U.S. 143 (1951)
Continental Television, Inc. v. GTE Sylvania, Inc., 433 U.S. 36 (1977)
Arizona v. Maricopa County Medical Society, 457 U.S. 332 (1982)
Jefferson Parish Hospital District No. 2 v. Hyde, 466 U.S. 2 (1984)
Copperweld Corp. v. Independence Tube Corp., 467 U.S. 752 (1984)
Spectrum Sports, Inc. v. McQuillan, 506 U.S. 447 (1993)
Leegin Creative Leather Products, Inc. v. PSKS, Inc., 551 U.S. 877 (2007)
Pacific Bell Telephone Co. v. linkLine Communications, Inc., 555 U.S. 438 (2009)
American Needle, Inc. v. National Football League, 560 U.S. 183 (2010)
North Carolina Bd. of Dental Examiners v. FTC, 574 U.S. 494 (2015)
Ohio v. American Express Co., No. 16-1454, 585 U.S. ___ (2018)
National Collegiate Athletic Assn. v. Alston, No. 20-512, 594 U.S. ___ (2021)
Sen. John Sherman (R–Ohio), the principal author of the Sherman Antitrust Act
Competition law
Basic concepts
History of competition law
Monopoly and oligopoly
Coercive monopoly
Natural monopoly
Barriers to entry
Herfindahl–Hirschman index
Market concentration
Market power
SSNIP test
Relevant market
Merger control
Anti-competitive practices
Monopolization
Collusion
Formation of cartels
Price fixing (cases)
Bid rigging
Tacit collusion
Product bundling and tying
Refusal to deal
Group boycott
Essential facilities
Exclusive dealing
Dividing territories
Predatory pricing
Misuse of patents and copyrights
Enforcement authorities and organizations
International Competition Network
List of competition regulators
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The Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890[1] (26 Stat. 209, 15 U.S.C. §§ 1–7) is a United States antitrust law which prescribes the rule of free competition among those engaged in commerce. It was passed by Congress and is named for Senator John Sherman, its principal author.
The Sherman Act broadly prohibits 1) anticompetitive agreements and 2) unilateral conduct that monopolizes or attempts to monopolize the relevant market. The Act authorizes the Department of Justice to bring suits to enjoin (i.e. prohibit) conduct violating the Act, and additionally authorizes private parties injured by conduct violating the Act to bring suits for treble damages (i.e. three times as much money in damages as the violation cost them). Over time, the federal courts have developed a body of law under the Sherman Act making certain types of anticompetitive conduct per se illegal, and subjecting other types of conduct to case-by-case analysis regarding whether the conduct unreasonably restrains trade.
The law attempts to prevent the artificial raising of prices by restriction of trade or supply.[2] "Innocent monopoly", or monopoly achieved solely by merit, is legal, but acts by a monopolist to artificially preserve that status, or nefarious dealings to create a monopoly, are not. The purpose of the Sherman Act is not to protect competitors from harm from legitimately successful businesses, nor to prevent businesses from gaining honest profits from consumers, but rather to preserve a competitive marketplace to protect consumers from abuses.[3]
^Officially re-designated as the "Sherman Act" by Congress in the Hart–Scott–Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, (Public Law 94-435, Title 3, Sec. 305(a), 90 Stat. 1383 at p. 1397).
^"Sherman AntiTrust Act, and Analysis". March 12, 2011. Archived from the original on November 18, 2011.
^"This focus of U.S. competition law, on protection of competition rather than competitors, is not necessarily the only possible focus or purpose of competition law. For example, it has also been said that competition law in the European Union (EU) tends to protect the competitors in the marketplace, even at the expense of market efficiencies and consumers."< Cseres, Katalin Judit (2005). Competition law and consumer protection. Kluwer Law International. pp. 291–293. ISBN 9789041123800. Archived from the original on May 12, 2013. Retrieved July 15, 2009.
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