When must a covered antitrust damages action be commenced?

Section 15b provides four years after accrual for an action enforcing a cause of action under sections 15, 15a or 15c. This calculator counts that untolled component. A related government antitrust proceeding can invoke the separate section 16(i) suspension, which this one-date preset does not apply.

Responsible actor. The plaintiff commencing a damages action covered by sections 15, 15a or 15c.

Identify the cause of action within sections 15, 15a or 15c.

Preserve the facts and authority establishing accrual.

Check government proceedings and the conditions of section 16(i).

Use for an established covered damages claim and accrual date, with no unmodeled suspension. It does not establish antitrust liability or calculate an injunction claim.

1. Independently established accrual of the covered antitrust cause of action
2. For the established federal civil court component, FRCP 6(a)(1) excludes the trigger day and includes intermediate weekends and holidays. A period in months or years uses its corresponding calendar date, rather than a fixed number of days. The final weekend or legal holiday moves forward under Rule 6(a). A target month or year without the corresponding day requires separate endpoint review; this calculator refuses that input.
3. Commence the covered damages action by the established applicable component. Preserve any government-proceeding records that support a separate suspension analysis.

Retained 2024 annual U.S. Code, laws in effect January 6, 2025. The subsequent-law review covers the retained 119th Congress corpus through Public Law 119-118, approved September 30, 2026. Its scoped candidate findings do not establish every claim-specific exception or later judicial application. This page requires the stated covered cause and legally established event. Court computation uses the retained December 1, 2025 FRCP compilation; identified agency regulations use their separately stated 2026 API editions.

The calendar covers established events and results from January 1, 2025 through December 31, 2033. OPM observations for 2025–2030 are independently checked. Dates in 2031–2033 are standing-rule projections under 5 U.S.C. § 6103, not published OPM schedules. Additional presidential, congressional or district-state holidays, amendments and actual clerk inaccessibility require separate review. Inauguration Day is not treated as a nationwide district-court holiday. The coverage boundary does not establish statutory applicability or lateness.

Fictitious example

Fictitious independently established facts. Use for an established covered damages claim and accrual date, with no unmodeled suspension. It does not establish antitrust liability or calculate an injunction claim.

Fictitious independently established events and classifications. The displayed result is this one untolled component. Securities earlier-of comparisons and alternative wage classifications are separately identified. These examples do not determine accrual, discovery, statutory liability, the actual forum, an exception, a completed filing or an unrecorded closure. Use for an established covered damages claim and accrual date, with no unmodeled suspension. It does not establish antitrust liability or calculate an injunction claim.

Government proceeding

Section 16(i) suspends the limitation period for a qualifying related government proceeding and one year thereafter, with its stated conditions. Review that history separately.

Specific remedy

The statutory list of causes matters. Do not use this damages component as a universal period for every antitrust remedy.

Calendar and endpoint coverage

The calendar covers established events and results from January 1, 2025 through December 31, 2033. OPM observations for 2025–2030 are independently checked. Dates in 2031–2033 are standing-rule projections under 5 U.S.C. § 6103, not published OPM schedules. Additional presidential, congressional or district-state holidays, amendments and actual clerk inaccessibility require separate review. Inauguration Day is not treated as a nationwide district-court holiday. The coverage boundary does not establish statutory applicability or lateness.

• Use for an established covered damages claim and accrual date, with no unmodeled suspension. It does not establish antitrust liability or calculate an injunction claim.
• The calculation supplies the stated component on established facts. Unmodeled tolling, competing components and claim-specific exceptions require separate controlling review.

• Identify the cause of action within sections 15, 15a or 15c.
• Preserve the facts and authority establishing accrual.
• Check government proceedings and the conditions of section 16(i).
• Section 16(i) suspends the limitation period for a qualifying related government proceeding and one year thereafter, with its stated conditions. Review that history separately.
• The statutory list of causes matters. Do not use this damages component as a universal period for every antitrust remedy.
• For this federal civil court component, FRCP 3 uses filing the complaint to commence the action, subject to a specific statutory requirement such as claimant written consent. Under FRCP 6(a)(4), the last day ordinarily ends at midnight in the court’s time zone for electronic filing, or at scheduled clerk closing for other filing. A different statute, local rule or court order can set a different time. Establish the actual court and completed filing; an unsuccessful attempt is not automatically a completed filing. Rule 6(a)(3) concerns actual clerk inaccessibility. Rule 6(d) is not an automatic addition to statutory accrual, discovery, denial-mailing or notice-receipt components.