Comparative framing: per se, ‘quick look’, ‘abbreviated’ and ‘full’ rule of reason in US antitrust law

The purpose of this chapter is to provide a framing for the comparative references in the subsequent chapters. This book uses comparative law to identify, highlight and contextualize issues of EU competition law and to point out alternative patterns of reaction. For this purpose, this chapter provides an overview of the relevant principles of US antitrust law and clarifies the conceptualization used in the comparative references. Section 3.2.1 explores the per se and rule of reason dichotomy and provides an overview of the doctrine of per se. Section 3.2.2 presents the intermediate modes of antitrust analysis and argues that what is viewed as a single doctrine is, in fact, made up of two slightly different notions: the ‘quick look’ and the ‘abbreviated rule of reason’. Section 3.2.3 presents the structure and dynamics of the rule-of-reason analysis. Section 3.3.4 provides a comparative overview of Article 101 and Section 1.