Simple English definitions for legal terms
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Consciously parallel: When a company knows what their competitor is doing, like raising prices, and decides to do the same thing on their own without talking to the competitor. Sometimes this is seen as a bad thing and can be considered a conspiracy.
Definition: Consciously parallel refers to the behavior of a company that is aware of its competitor's actions, such as raising prices, and decides to take the same action independently. This behavior is often seen as evidence of a conspiracy in antitrust cases.
Example: Company A and Company B are both in the business of selling widgets. Company A raises the price of their widgets, and Company B, who is aware of this, also raises the price of their widgets. This is an example of consciously parallel behavior.
Explanation: In this example, Company B is consciously parallel to Company A because they are aware of Company A's price increase and decide to raise their prices as well. This behavior can be seen as evidence of a conspiracy because it suggests that the two companies may have colluded to raise prices together, rather than making independent pricing decisions.