15 U.S.C. § 1 · A outline

A · Element outline

Labels preserve the recorded AND / OR / EXCEPTION / DEFENSE structure.

Claim structure

Expression key: & = AND; | = OR; ! = exclusion / negation. Parentheses preserve grouping.

15usc1:civil

agreement & restraint & (restraint.per-se | restraint.quick-look | restraint.rule-of-reason) & commerce & injury & standing & !state-action-immunity & !statute-of-limitations & !x-law-of-the-case

Private civil antitrust action via Clayton Act §§ 4 and 16 (15 U.S.C. §§ 15, 26): requires concerted action between separate economic decisionmakers, an unreasonable restraint of trade evaluated under the applicable mode of analysis (per se, quick look, or rule of reason), interstate/foreign commerce nexus, antitrust injury, and antitrust standing.

15usc1:criminal

agreement & (restraint.per-se | restraint.rule-of-reason) & commerce & intent & !statute-of-limitations

Criminal felony prosecution under the second sentence of 15 U.S.C. § 1: per-se and non-per-se routes remain available. United States v. U.S. Gypsum Co., 438 U.S. 422 (1978), requires proof of the appropriate criminal intent for a non-per-se restraint; knowing joinder can suffice for a per-se restraint.

Constraints

Whether an arrangement joins separate economic decisionmakers capable of concerted action (Copperweld / American Needle) is a threshold inquiry separate from whether cooperation is necessary or procompetitive under the Rule of Reason.

In criminal per se prosecutions, intent to restrain trade is satisfied by knowing participation in the conspiracy without separate proof of intent to produce anticompetitive effects.

Law modes, protocols and effects

law

Law kind: substantive

mode · mode:restraint

Element: restraint

Alternatives: per-se, quick-look, rule-of-reason

Default: rule-of-reason

A plaintiff who disclaims every other mode loses on the merits when its mode is rejected (Texaco v. Dagher); otherwise rejection of per se treatment only moves the case to another mode.

Statute text with element anchors

Overlapping highlights link to the first element; the anchor key links every associated element. All offsets refer to unchanged source text.

§1. Trusts, etc., in restraint of trade illegal; penalty Every contract, combination in the form of trust or otherwise, or conspiracy, in restraint of trade or commerce among the several States, or with foreign nations, is declared to be illegal. Every person who shall make any contract or engage in any combination or conspiracy hereby declared to be illegal shall be deemed guilty of a felony, and, on conviction thereof, shall be punished by fine not exceeding $100,000,000 if a corporation, or, if any other person, $1,000,000, or by imprisonment not exceeding 10 years, or by both said punishments, in the discretion of the court. (July 2, 1890, ch. 647, §1, 26 Stat. 209 ; Aug. 17, 1937, ch. 690, title VIII, 50 Stat. 693 ; July 7, 1955, ch. 281, 69 Stat. 282 ; Pub. L. 93–528, §3, Dec. 21, 1974, 88 Stat. 1708 ; Pub. L. 94–145, §2, Dec. 12, 1975, 89 Stat. 801 ; Pub. L. 101–588, §4(a), Nov. 16, 1990, 104 Stat. 2880 ; Pub. L. 108–237, title II, §215(a), June 22, 2004, 118 Stat. 668 .)
All element anchor links

Element outline