The order, issued last week by Judge John H. Chun and unsealed Monday, marks a major defeat for Amazon, which has spent months trying to get the case to trial. A trial in the case is expected to take place in October 2026.

“We are pleased with the court’s decision and look forward to moving this case forward,” FTC spokesman Doug Farrar said in a prepared statement. “The ways in which Amazon illegally maintains its monopolies and the harms they cause – including suppressed competition and higher prices for shoppers and sellers – will be fully exposed during the trial.”

The FTC and the attorneys general of 18 states, plus Puerto Rico, have alleged in court that the e-commerce giant abuses its position in the marketplace to inflate prices on and off its platform, overcharging sellers and suppress the competition that appears in the market. .

The lawsuit, filed in September 2023, is the result of a years-long investigation into the company’s activities and is one of the most significant legal challenges filed against Amazon in its nearly 30-year history.

U.S. regulators and attorneys general accuse the online retailer of violating federal and state antitrust and consumer protection laws.

In the order, Judge Chun, of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, allowed the federal challenges and many of the state claims to proceed. But he rejected some claims from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Oklahoma and Maryland under state antitrust or consumer protection laws.

Amazon, for its part, expressed confidence that it could prove its argument in court as the case progresses

“The ruling at this early stage requires the court to assume that all facts stated in the complaint are true. That is not the case,” Tim Doyle said in a statement, adding that the agency’s case “falsely” claims that consumers only consider the popular sites Walmart.com, Target.com, Amazon and eBay when purchasing household products .

“Going forward, the FTC will have to prove its claims in court, and we are confident that these claims will not hold up if the FTC has to prove them with evidence,” Doyle said. He also claimed that the FTC’s approach would “make shopping more difficult and expensive.”

The FTC is also suing Meta Platforms for alleged monopolistic practices, while the Justice Department has filed similar lawsuits against Apple and Google, with some success.

In August, a federal judge ruled that Google’s ubiquitous search engine is illegally exploiting its dominance to stifle competition and stifle innovation.