In his ruling, District Judge John Coughenour rejected Apple and Amazon's request to dismiss their potential class-action lawsuit. He stated that the "validity" of the market in question – a central issue in an antitrust dispute – was considered by the jury.
The lawsuit, filed in November 2022, is just one of several actions by governments and private individuals against Amazon's conduct. Judge Coughenour's ruling means the case will move into the evidence gathering phase and other pre-trial proceedings.
Steve Berman, the plaintiffs' lawyer, called the court ruling a "major victory for Apple phone and iPad users." The plaintiffs are U.S. citizens who purchased iPhones and iPads on Amazon starting in January 2019. They argued that an agreement between Apple and Amazon that took effect that year restricted the number of competing sellers, violating antitrust provisions.
According to the lawsuit, in 2018, there were approximately 600 Apple sellers on Amazon. Apple agreed to allow Amazon to lower product prices if the e-commerce platform reduced the number of Apple resellers on its marketplace, the lawsuit alleges.
Apple argues the agreement aims to reduce the sale of counterfeit Apple products on its platform. The company's lawyers call the agreement "commonplace" and legal. The Seattle state judge said the motives behind the agreement would be addressed later in the trial.
Apple reported revenue of $94.8 billion and Amazon reported revenue of $127.4 billion in their most recent earnings reports.
(According to Reuters)
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