Fresno Computers and Seattle Softwares are two computer manufacturing companies in the west coast of the U.S.A. They, non-contractually, agreed on a price range within which they will set the prices of their laptops. Under this situation:
A) they are not in violation of any antitrust laws because they only agreed upon a price range, not a definite fixed price.
B) the courts will not consider their agreement inherently anticompetitive and examine it as per the rule of reason approach.
C) they are not in violation of any antitrust laws because there was no written agreement between the two companies regarding the price fixing.
D) the courts will consider their act anticompetitive because price fixing agreements which merely affect price are also per se violations.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Horizontal price fixing covers more than just naked agreements to fix prices. It also covers agreements that affect prices, even if it is not an agreement to set the price. For example, competitors cannot agree on a price range within which they will set their price, they cannot agree on a common list or book price that limits their ability to set the price, nor can they set the terms and conditions of sale which indirectly affects the price.

Fresno Computers and Seattle Softwares Are Two Computer Manufacturing Companies