Law Dictionary

monopoly

commercial law. This word has various significations. 1. It is the abuse of free commerce by which one or more individuals have procured the advantage of selling alone all of a particular kind of merchandise, to the detriment of the public.

2. - 2. All combinations among merchants to raise the price of merchandise to the injury of the public, is also said to be a monopoly.

3. - 3. A monopoly is also an institution or allowance by a grant from the sovereign power of a state, by commission, letters patent, or otherwise, to any person, or corporation, by which the exclusive right of buying, selling, making, working, or using anything, is given. Bac. Abr. h. t.; 3 Inst. 181.

4. The constitutions of Maryland, North Carolina, and Tennessee, declare that "monopolies are contrary to the genius of a free government, and ought not to be allowed." Vide art. Copyyright; Patent.

Source : Bouvier 1856

Language : English

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