15 U.S.C. § 2
Section 2 · Monopolizing trade a felony; penalty
This is § 2 of the Sherman Antitrust Act
Amended 5 times on record
The circuits are split over this section — Whether proof of the relevant market is required to establish a conspiracy to monopolize claim under Section 2 of the Sherman Act; Whether monopoly leveraging—using monopoly power in one market to gain a competitive advantage in a second market—is an independent claim under Section 2 of the Sherman Act (15 U.S.C. § 2)
Applied in 2,241 court decisions — leading case Poller v. Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc. (1962)
Most recently applied in Members of N.C. State Univ.'s 1983 Ncaa Men's Basketball Nat'l Championship Team v. Nat'l Collegiate Athletic Ass'n (August 2025)
Applied most in the Third Circuit Circuit (158 decisions)
Cases citing this section usually also cite 15 U.S.C. § 1 · 15 U.S.C. § 15 · 15 U.S.C. § 13
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
Every person who shall monopolize, or attempt to monopolize, or combine or conspire with any other person or persons, to monopolize any part of the trade or commerce among the several States, or with foreign nations, shall be deemed guilty of a felony, and, on conviction thereof, shall be punished by fine not exceeding $100,000,000 if a corporation, or, if any other person, $1,000,000, or by imprisonment not exceeding 10 years, or by both said punishments, in the discretion of the court.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Amendments
2004—Pub. L. 108–237 substituted “$100,000,000” for “$10,000,000”, “$1,000,000” for “$350,000”, and “10” for “three”.
1990—Pub. L. 101–588 substituted “$10,000,000” for “one million dollars” and “$350,000” for “one hundred thousand dollars”.
1974—Pub. L. 93–528 substituted “a felony, and, on conviction thereof, shall be punished by fine not exceeding one million dollars if a corporation, or, if any other person, one hundred thousand dollars, or by imprisonment not exceeding three years” for “a misdemeanor, and, on conviction thereof, shall be punished by fine not exceeding fifty thousand dollars, or by imprisonment not exceeding one year”.
1955—Act July 7, 1955, substituted “fifty thousand dollars” for “five thousand dollars”.