How the U.S. and other systems differ
American antitrust law targets acquiring or maintaining monopoly power through exclusionary conduct, rather than size or high prices on their own. The European Union and many other jurisdictions, including Korea, use an abuse of dominance framework that can reach a broader range of conduct by firms with strong market positions. A company selling globally may find that a practice tolerated in one market draws scrutiny in another. Market share alone does not settle whether a company is dominant, and how the market is defined often matters as much as the share. State attorneys general, including New York's, also enforce antitrust laws and have taken an active interest in large platforms.
Practices that tend to draw attention
For firms with a strong position, contract terms that would be routine for a smaller competitor can raise questions. Exclusive dealing arrangements and loyalty discounts are common examples. Bundling products together, or refusing to deal with rivals in certain circumstances, can also draw scrutiny. Internal documents describing a goal of eliminating a competitor or locking up customers can color how regulators read otherwise defensible conduct. Keep records of the business reasons behind pricing and contract decisions as they are made, and train sales teams on how to describe competition in writing.
Building a program that fits
We begin by understanding the markets you sell in, your share and that of competitors, and where you operate outside the United States. From there we review contract templates, rebate programs, and distribution terms against the rules that apply in each key jurisdiction. If a regulator has already sent questions or a competitor has complained, we focus first on preserving documents and preparing a consistent response. Dominance compliance is less about a rulebook than about judgment, so we help identify which decisions should come to legal review before they are launched. The program should reflect your actual business rather than a generic antitrust checklist.
