A Very First Antitrust Case in China and its Related Vital Legal Issues: A Comparison on Certain Aspects of Antitrust Law between U.S. Law and Chinese

Abstract:     
The case between Dexian and Sony is once called “the first Antimonopoly case” in China, since the case happened right before China Antimonopoly Law came into effect and brought certain important legal questions in dispute when the case was going on. Some of those questions now can be solved, at least to some extent, under China Antimonopoly Law, but some remain unsolved. Among those questions, the question of dominant market position and the question of tying arrangement weigh the most. There is also certain technical question remained unsolved in the case. In this paper some of the important legal questions are discussed, and U.S. Antitrust law and Chinese Antitrust law are compared to some extent. Knowing and understanding the case between Dexian and Sony will be useful to those who are interested in understanding the current Chinese Antitrust law and some of the differences between U.S. Antitrust law and Chinese Antitrust law, and will be meaningful to Antitrust legal practice in both U.S. and China.

Keywords: antitrust, antimonopoly, competition, international, electronic product, digital product, technology, chinese law, american law, dominant market, market share, consumer, customer, relevant market, tying, high price

JEL Classification: K21, L12, L40, L68

working papers series