iPhone Plaintiffs Fight to Keep Antitrust Case Alive

Class action plaintiffs lawyers are still struggling for another bite at Apple Inc. after their antitrust claims against Apple and AT&T Mobility foundered on an AT&T arbitration agreement with iPhone customers last year. In a 26-page brief filed on Monday, the lawyers argued that their follow-on suit against only Apple should be allowed to move forward, since Apple is just as liable as AT&T for creating an alleged monopoly in the aftermarket for iPhone voice and data services.

Back in December U.S. District Judge James Ware in San Francisco knocked out a class action brought by Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz on behalf of iPhone customers. The plaintiffs alleged that under a five-year exclusivity agreement with AT&T, Apple programmed and installed software on each iPhone that prevented the purchaser from switching to other carriers. But Ware decertified the class, ruling that AT&T could enforce an arbitration clause in its customer agreement and that the plaintiffs’ claims against the two companies were so intertwined that Apple was shielded by the AT&T agreement as well.