Amazon's FTC antitrust lawsuit gets partially dismissed

Amazon’s FTC antitrust lawsuit has been partially dismissed according to new reports, resulting in a “partial win” for the online retailer. In 2023, the FTC sued Amazon for alleged monopolistic practices. Claims from the FTC ranged from Amazon punishing sellers by deprioritizing them from the algorithm if they sold items on their own websites for less than Amazon, to artificially increasing prices which caused consumers to have to pay more money for items.

Amazon requested the case be dismissed in December of last year. Just a couple of months after the lawsuit was initially filed. The case wasn’t dismissed at that time. However, it seems that now almost one year later, things may be partially going in Amazon’s favor.

Amazon’s antitrust lawsuit hasn’t been completely dismissed, but a motion has been partially granted

There isn’t a ton of detail about the motion being partially dismissed. However, it does look like Amazon may be in less trouble than was initially thought when the lawsuit first came up. This week, Reuters and Business Insider have reported that Judge John Chun partially granted Amazon’s motion. This ruling was sealed, so the particulars are unclear. Chun has said that the FTC can still proceed with some of its claims. So while some were permanently dismissed, others are still open for continued pursuance.

It’s also not clear what parts of the lawsuit may have been dismissed and what wasn’t. Chun also ruled that the FTC’s case will be split up into two separate trials. “Chun also ruled the case will be tried in two parts, rejecting Amazon’s bid to have the FTC present evidence of the alleged violations and its proposed remedies in the same trial,” Reuters reports.

Amazon’s FTC lawsuit is a major one for US regulators

Amazon among other big tech companies has according to regulators, been allowed to operate unchecked. Google itself has been involved in several big lawsuits with regulators. The most recent is Google’s trial over the way it operates its ad business. Amazon’s trial is monumental in that it’s the world’s biggest online retailer, and the FTC wants to see Amazon forced to run its business in a way that won’t harm consumers.

The final ruling of Amazon’s case is still uncertain. However, this week’s recent ruling certainly goes a long way to help Amazon, it seems.