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Litigation While there was no doubt there were legal challenges to the company on a regular basis just as there would be with any large, global company, there were some significant legal challenges in the early years. I have tried to provide the actual legal documentation in addition to the summary below because there tended to be a great deal of information about the products, the company, and the competition included in the court documentation. While a little dry to read, serious collectors are encouraged to undertake the reading. 1. The challenge in 1913 to the monopolistic activities of the company. The federal government challenged the company that it had suppressed competition and displayed a long term business approach toward eliminating competition by wrongful methods. The challenge was upheld in court and a "slap of the wrist" was delivered which prohibited unlawful activities in the future and caused the company to write a letter to employees and agents cautioning them against unlawful activities. Select the link in the upper right of this page to view the text of the court documentation. 2. Challenges from the competition with the Felt and Tarrant Company continued for many years. They related to Felts attempt to create a printing adding machine and Burroughs creation of a non-listing, key driven adding machine. Documents from those challenges, while incomplete, offer perspectives on the issues.
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