AUSTIN, Texas (Legal Newsline) — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced that MCCi LLC and VP Imaging Inc., doing business as DocuNav Solutions, have agreed to settle allegations stemming from agreements the companies made not to compete in the market for enterprise content management software.
MCCi is based in Florida, while DocuNav is based in Texas. The two parties both resell Laserfiche software. They allegedly agreed not to compete against each other in Texas or solicit and hire each other’s employees. Most customers of these companies are tax-supported local government entities. According to Paxton’s office, this pact violates antitrust laws in that it limits competition and increases prices for public contracts.
“Competitors entering into agreements not to compete for customers violates antitrust laws and raises the prices paid for goods and services,” Paxton said. “When the affected customers are public entities, taxpayers ultimately end up paying above market prices. This kind of interference in the free market is forbidden in the state of Texas and my office will continue to safeguard competition.”
The companies have terminated their anticompetitive agreement and agreed not to make any similar arrangements in the future. MCCi and DocuNav will also pay the state a combined $55,000.