Question

Fountain Plus, Inc. a manufacturer of bottled water, has enjoyed rapid growth in sales of one of its flavored water products, Xtrafresh, for which it has a patent, which has just expired. It now faces fierce competition from many other existing bottled water manufacturers in the case of Xtrafresh. a. As a manufacturer competing in the bottled water market, what type of a market does Fountain Plus Inc. operate in before and after the patent expired? Explain why.

Answer 1

Answer: Before Patent Expired - Monopoly Market

After Patent Expired - Perfect Competition

Explanation:

Fountain Plus had a patent on Xtrafresh, this means that they alone had legal rights to produce it and others could not produce it without their permission. This gave rise to a Monopoly as there was no competition. Fountain Fresh was able to make ECONOMIC PROFIT because they were able to charge at a price higher than both the Marginal Cost and the marginal revenue of Xtrafresh which were equal to maximize output.

When the Patent expired however and other companies could come into the trade,they started competing in the case of Xtrafresh. This competition meant that Fountain Plus could no longer keep the price at a level above Marginal cost as the other firms would simply charge lower. This led to a situation where the production of Xtrafresh and it's demand became Economically Efficient at Equilibrium. What this means is that Firms had to sell at a price determined by the market and had to make sure that this price equaled their Marginal Revenue and Marginal Cost so therefore no firm was able to make ECONOMIC PROFIT any longer.