Apple, Amazon face revived UK consumer lawsuit over product sales

By Sam Tabahriti

LONDON, Sept 28 (Reuters) - Britain's Competition Appeal Tribunal allowed part of a revived consumer lawsuit against Apple and Amazon to proceed on Monday over claims they restricted competition.

The lawsuit alleges 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 tribunal allowed claims relating to Apple products bought through Amazon's marketplace to proceed, but rejected one covering those bought directly from Apple and other retailers.

An Apple spokesperson said it "strongly" disagreed with the claims and its aim in reaching the agreement with Amazon was to tackle counterfeit products on the marketplace.

Amazon welcomed the tribunal's decision, adding that the remaining claim was "without merit".

"We're confident that this will become clear throughout the process," an Amazon spokesperson said.

The claimant said the part of the case which was allowed to proceed could be worth between £289 million ($383 million) and £306 million, including interest.

Judge Kelyn Bacon said claims relating to Amazon marketplace purchases were "plausible, credible and grounded in the facts", but rejected wider claims relating to other retailers because they rested on a "complex and speculative theory of harm".

The three-judge tribunal last year refused to allow a largely similar lawsuit brought by consumer law academic Christine Riefa to go ahead because of concerns about the proposed class representative and litigation funding.

The claim was later refiled by Justin Le Patourel, who replaced Riefa as the proposed representative of consumers.

A spokesperson for Le Patourel welcomed the ruling, but said it was disappointing that parts of the claim were not certified.

The tribunal ruled there was a realistic basis for arguing that restrictions on resellers could have led to higher prices for consumers buying Apple products through Amazon. 

However, it said there was not enough evidence at this stage to support claims that the alleged conduct also increased prices for Apple products sold in Apple's stores or by other retailers. 

(Reporting by Sam Tabahriti, Editing by Louise Heavens and Alexander Smith)