UK tribunal allows part of Apple and Amazon consumer lawsuit to proceed

London, United Kingdom. Britain’s Competition Appeal Tribunal on Monday allowed part of a consumer lawsuit against Apple and Amazon to proceed over allegations that they restricted competition in sales of Apple products on Amazon’s UK marketplace. It rejected claims covering purchases made directly from Apple or other retailers.

Claims over marketplace sales

The lawsuit alleges that Apple and Amazon agreed in 2018 to limit which sellers could offer Apple and Beats-branded products on Amazon’s UK website, reducing competition and inflating prices.

The three-judge tribunal allowed claims relating to Apple products bought through Amazon’s marketplace to proceed. According to the claimant, that part of the case could be worth between £289 million ($383 million) and £306 million, including interest.

Judge Kelyn Bacon said the marketplace claims were “plausible, credible and grounded in the facts”. The tribunal said there was a realistic basis for arguing that restrictions on resellers could have raised prices for consumers buying Apple products through Amazon.

Wider claims rejected

The tribunal rejected claims concerning products bought directly from Apple and other retailers. Bacon said those claims rested on a “complex and speculative theory of harm”, and the tribunal found insufficient evidence at this stage that the alleged conduct raised prices through Apple’s own stores or other retailers.

Last year, the tribunal refused to allow a largely similar lawsuit brought by consumer law academic Christine Riefa to proceed because of concerns about the proposed class representative and litigation funding arrangements. The claim was later refiled by Justin Le Patourel, who replaced Riefa as the proposed representative of consumers.