Over the years, the carefully worded corporate retellings have been most illuminating in what they don't mention: Lizzie Magie, the Quakers, the dozens, if not hundreds or thousands, of early players, Ralph Anspach and the Anti-Monopoly litigation.
In the four cases that have reached a court decision, the brand-name manufacturers lost each time, suggesting that their suits were little more than legal ploys to gain additional time to reap monopoly profits, not serious litigation.
Amgen patented the Epo gene, barely beating out another company, and through litigation has preserved its monopoly for more than 20 years.
The system works best not for the inventor but for a rich company that has the money to get good patent lawyers and fund litigation to protect a monopoly.
E. H. Gary, president of U. S. Steel, agreed in principle to this transaction, yet argued that without careful political maneuvering the deal would be seen by Congress as an effort to create a monopoly and thereby encounter troublesome federal anti-trust litigation.
Government should downhold nondefense spending, stop the litigation drain and reduce regulation but protect consumers from media and other monopolies.
The law, commonly referred to as Hatch-Waxman, recognises the risks of such litigation and aims to reward generic firms that succeed in lopping years off brand monopolies (ie, manoeuvring against questionable patents that extend these monopolies).
But in court filings and through his lawyer, Mr. Langdon argues that the litigation is simply a move by the Irving family to maintain what he sees as its virtual monopoly.
"The implications of the just and reasonable standard will be years of litigation just as we've seen since 1934, when those words were written by Congress for the Ma Bell monopoly," said former FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell, a Republican.
Like a defense looking for a goal-line strategy, Jauregui has an idea for keeping the Chargers in San Diego: litigation, based on an accusation that the Chargers and the NFL are violating antitrust laws by "abuse of monopoly power".
