US Supreme Court rejects Apple's bid, allows anti-trust lawsuit to proceed

The US Supreme Court on Monday gave the go-ahead for a lawsuit by consumers accusing Apple Inc of monopolizing the market for iPhone software applications and forcing them to overpay, rejecting the company's bid to escape claims that its practices violate federal antitrust law.

Apple shares were down about 5% after the justices, in a 5-4 ruling, upheld a lower court's decision to allow the proposed class action lawsuit to proceed. The plaintiffs could seek billions of dollars in damages if they win on their claims that Apple required apps be sold through its App Store and extracted an excessive