Antitrust and Trade Regulation laws aim to promote free competition in the marketplace. Agreements or cooperative efforts by two or more entities that affects or restrains competitors is illegal under these laws. The Sherman Act makes illegal any contract, combination, or conspiracy in restraint of trade or commerce and makes monopolies and attempts, combinations, or conspiracies to monopolize illegal. The Clayton Act regulate price discrimination, tying and exclusive dealing contracts, stock acquisition and interlocking directorates.
Melrose is a city located in the Greater Boston metropolitan area and Middlesex County, Massachusetts. The population was 26,708 in the 2008 population estimate from the U.S. Census Bureau. It is located approximately seven miles north of Boston and is situated in the center of the triangle created by Interstate 93, 95 and US Route 1. The land that comprises Melrose was first explored in 1628 and was once part of Charlestown and then Malden. It became the Town of Melrose in 1845 and then the City of Melrose in 1900.