The Clayton Antitrust Act was enacted in 1914 to add additional substance to U.S. antitrust law by seeking to prevent certain anti-competitive practices during their inception, and continued a regime that started with the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890.
Unsuccessful in invalidating their case through the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals, the defendants appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court asking the court to clarify the definition of 'persons' under the Clayton and Sherman acts, as section 8 of the Clayton act states: .