What is an illegal monopoly and what does an antitrust lawsuit imply ?⚖️

Cliquez ici pour lire en français

Last week, USA accused Apple of an illegal monopoly on smartphones. To find out why, you can click here. So one of our readers wanted to know what an illegal monopoly is, and what an antitrust lawsuit implies. We answer them in this week’s Ask Griots.

Market control

An illegal monopoly is a situation in which a single company controls a particular market and uses its power to harm consumers or competitors. This can be done in a number of ways, for example by setting high prices, limiting production or excluding competitors from the market.

Illegal monopolies can harm consumers in a number of ways: higher prices, less choice, less innovation, and so on.

Legal action

An antitrust lawsuit is a legal action brought by a government or private entity against a company or group of companies accused of anti-competitive practices.

The objectives of an antitrust lawsuit are to put an end to anti-competitive practices, obtain damages and break up monopolies.

Antitrust lawsuits can last from a few months to several years. One of the most famous was the Microsoft case, which lasted from 1998 to 2001.