(Reuters) – The U.S. Federal Trade Commission case accusing Amazon of stifling competition in online retail will move forward, although some of the states that sued alongside the agency saw their claims dismissed, they showed. court documents.
U.S. District Judge John Chun in Seattle released his Sept. 30 ruling, which dismissed some of the claims brought by the attorneys general of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Oklahoma.
Last year, the FTC alleged that Amazon.com (NASDAQ:), which carries one billion items in its online superstore, was using an algorithm that raised the prices American households paid by more than $1 billion. Amazon has said in court documents that it stopped using the program in 2019.
The FTC has accused the online retailer of using anti-competitive tactics to maintain dominance among big box stores and online marketplaces.
Amazon asked Chun to dismiss the case in December, saying the FTC had failed to present evidence of harm to consumers.
The judge said in his ruling that he cannot consider Amazon’s claims that its actions benefited competition at this early stage of the case.