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this practice does not follow a scheme that leads to the formation of “one single businessunit for the distribution and marketing of products of the same brand in terms of geographicmarkets, standards of goods, and services and price policies,” in which case themonopolistic practice may be seen as acceptable due to the elements therein that promotecompetition. A typical case is the franchise that has an established image andrequires a certain consistency from it distributors, which means that clients can go toany distributor and find the same quality and price.In this regard, the CFC has declared that “vertical restraints [...] allow the formation ofspecialized distribution chains at the cost of suppressing competition [... and therefore]this scheme facilitates the organization as if it were a single business organization [… andcould be considered] as a scheme oriented toward the legitimate search for efficienciesin the distribution.”As we indicated, the factors for evaluating relative monopolistic practices need to becarefully examined according to the rules regarding “substantial power” in the “relevantmarket” of the agent that is accused of engaging in such practices. We will look brieflyat the principles that govern both concepts.The basic factor on which the law is based is substitutability, which in turn appears indifferent practices.3.2.1. The relevant marketThere are various presumptions according to which the relevant market can be determined.This factor begins with the idea that an ideal market is one in which there is totalsubstitutability of products. Consumers do not suffer any economic loss if they canimmediately substitute, without cost, one product for another. And to the extent thissubstitution is difficult; the producer can impose higher prices, because it knows that itsproduct cannot be rapidly and easily substituted for. Here we have what economic theorycalls inelasticity in the market, that is, the lack of this necessary substitutability ofgoods and services in the market and which, as we know, allows an economic agent toexercise the power to fix prices in such markets and, consequently, to obtain a monopolisticbenefit that affects the economy and especially economic competition. In this way,with this concept two decisive factors are taken into consideration for substitutability:“the technological possibilities” and “the time required for such substitution,” whichtogether give an index for the determination of the power that a particular economicagent can exercise in the market.In relation to the possibilities of substitution, the LFCEA and the RLFCE define the stepsthat must be taken in an analysis and require that the CFC indicate first the goods and servicesthat make up the relevant market and second those that eventually could substitutefor them. Once this is done, the LFCEA and the RLFCE require the following step: that thegeographic area where such goods and services are supplied and demanded be determined.249Economic Competition