Amazon got a victory in its year-long antitrust battle with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), with a federal judge partially dismissing some of the claims against the e-commerce giant Monday.
Judge John Chun, from the U.S. District Court in the western district of Washington, partially granted and partially denied Amazon’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit entirely, according to a summary of the filing.
The specifics of the dismissed claims are still yet to be determined, as the order remains under seal. The court is expected to unseal the order later this month.
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According to a report from The Washington Post, Chun ruled the case will move forward with the FTC’s claims that Amazon violated federal antitrust and competition laws. However, he tossed out some of the claims brought by state attorneys general about alleged breaches of state laws. The judge allowed the states’ claims that the company violated federal laws to proceed.
The agency can opt to refile any claims the judge did not permanently dismiss by Oct. 31. Both parties have until Oct. 14 to tell the court if it would like to redact portions of the order that is currently under seal, before it is made publicly available.
The FTC would not comment on the matter. Sourcing Journal reached out to Amazon.
Amazon first asked Chun to dismiss the case last December, saying the FTC had raised no evidence of harm to consumers.
The FTC and 17 states first filed suit against the e-commerce giant in September 2023, alleging that the company engages in anticompetitive behavior across its online seller marketplace as well as in the many services it offers to third-party sellers, including logistics and fulfillment, as well as advertising.
Among the claims tied to Amazon’s role as an alleged monopolist include: promoting its own products over competitors; stopping rivals and sellers from lowering prices; degrading product selction and search quality for shoppers; overcharging sellers; and stifling innovation.
One such covert operation unearthed in the FTC’s case against the tech titan was an algorithm, “Project Nessie,” which identified specific products on other e-commerce sites that would raise prices after Amazon did. The algorithm generated $1 billion in excess profit from 2015 to 2019, before it was discontinued, the lawsuit said.
Vermont and Puerto Rico both joined an amended version of the lawsuit in March.
Amazon has denied all the claims levied against it, and noted that the practices the company has adhered to have resulted in benefits for the consumer—namely greater selection, lower prices and faster delivery speeds.
In its dismissal motion in December, Amazon defended itself to the court saying that its alleged anticompetitive behavior consisted of “common retail practices,” including matching rivals’ discounts, recommending products via the “buy box” or highlighting sellers with a “Prime badge” to illustrate who would best meet customers’ delivery expectations.
Chun also ruled the case will be tried in two parts, granting the FTC’s request. The judge rejected Amazon’s bid to have the FTC present evidence of the alleged violations and its proposed remedies in the same trial.
The antitrust lawsuit’s trial date is set for October 2026.
The Amazon suit is one of multiple against the online retail giant filed by FTC and chair Lina Khan, the face of the pushback against Amazon who argued the company’s business model was anticompetitive in a 2017 academic article.
Last year, the commission also sued Amazon on accusations that it “knowingly duped millions of consumers into unknowingly enrolling in Amazon Prime,” and knowingly complicated the cancellation process. That case is still pending. Additionally, the FTC fined Amazon $30.8 million for privacy violations related to its Alexa and Ring products.
In January, the agency got a win against Amazon, when an investigation into the $1.4 billion acquisition of iRobot resulted in the termination of the deal.
The fight against Big Tech firms has been a priority for both the FTC and the Department of Justice in recent years, with the former also fighting Facebook owner Meta in court over antitrust violations.
The DOJ is battling Google and Apple in court, with the department getting a major victory against the search giant in August. In that case, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia found that Google operates its search engine as an illegal monopoly. Judge Amit Mehta will not decide on a remedy until next summer, but a potential breakup of the company could be in play.
