California Dental Association Case

What was the reason for the creation of the 2000 US Horizontal Collaboration Guidelines?

The FTC found that the California Dental Association had violated Article 1 of the Sherman Act. In concrete terms, it issued an order that prohibited the California Dental Association (CDA) from imposing a host of restrictions on the advertising and solicitation practices of its members. At the time it was thought by the FTC that it could apply a "quick look" analysis in finding that the conduct was illegal, without having to engaging in a full rule of reason analysis of its positive and negative impacts on competition. The Supreme Court, however, by a 5-4 majority, rejected the theory of the FTC. The Supreme Court held that the rule of reason applied in this case.

The FTC created the 2000 US Horizontal Collaboration Guidelines in order to clarify its policy in the wake of the California Dental Association case.