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.
Patton is a borough in Cambria County, Pennsylvania, 20 miles (32 km) northwest of Altoona, in an agricultural region. It is part of the Johnstown, Pennsylvania Metropolitan Statistical Area. In 1900, 2,651 people stayed here, and in 1910, 3,907 people inhabited Patton. The population was 2,023 at the 2000 census. Patton is perhaps best known for an important local manufacturer, the Patton Clay Works. The Clay Works were one of the largest clay and brick concerns in the world in the first half of the 1900s. The company manufactured terra cotta products (pipe and tiles), building bricks, and pavers (known as "Patton Pavers"). Bricks made there were used in the construction of the Panama Canal and the pavers were used around the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France. The products were made from clay excavated from the area.