Does anyone know anything about business law and monopolies?
youthpastor1955 asked:
I own a taxi business in Spokane Washington. We have to get our taxi cabs inspected by a mechanic once a year. The city used to do it but we were unhappy because we wanted to choose our own mechanics to do the inspections. The city has responded by telling us we have to go to only one mechanic in Spokane and this mechanic has raised prices as a result. Does this not constitute an illegal monopoly and do we have grounds for a law suit? Thank you.
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Government-granted monopolies are not illegal per se. Courts analyze whether a government-granted monopoly violates antitrust laws using an approach that attempts to consider and balance the harms and benefits of the conduct at issue. If a court finds the benefits are important enough and the harm is not significant enough, it will find that the monopoly is legal. Courts often give considerable weight to any public interests that the government claims are being served by granting a monopoly.
You might be able to get an idea of where you stand by asking for an opinion from the Antitrust Division of the Washington State Office of the Attorney General as to whether it thinks that the Spokane granted monopoly for taxicab inspections may constitute an illegal monopoly.
I’ve placed 2 links below for you. One is to the Antitrust Division’s website and the other is to its Guide to Antitrust Laws. Charis P