April 11 (Reuters) - Amazon.com ( AMZN ) has asked a U.S. judge

to reject a proposed class-action lawsuit accusing it of duping

millions of consumers by obscuring product listings for

lower-priced items with better delivery times.

Amazon ( AMZN ) in a filing on Wednesday in Seattle federal court

said the consumers' lawsuit was premised on the "unfounded

assumption" that buyers are primarily interested only in the

best price for an item.

"Plaintiffs' own allegations confirm that at least some

consumers want Amazon ( AMZN ) to consider nonprice attributes in

deciding which offers to feature in its store," Amazon ( AMZN ) told the

court. The company denied that its practices were unfair or

deceptive.

Amazon ( AMZN ) and attorneys for the plaintiff did not immediately

respond to requests for comment.

The lawsuit zeroes in on Amazon's ( AMZN ) "buy box" feature,

claiming it steers online shoppers to sellers that use the

company's Fulfillment By Amazon program and pay "hefty fees" for

services including inventory storage and packing and shipping.

Two California residents filed the lawsuit in February,

seeking damages for alleged violations of a Washington state

consumer-protection measure that outlaws deceptive trade

practices.

The plaintiffs, represented by law firm Hagens Berman Sobol

Shapiro, said Amazon ( AMZN ) "uses a biased algorithm to determine which

offers shoppers will see, and therefore which sellers they will

buy from."

Amazon ( AMZN ) countered in Wednesday's filing that "there is

nothing unfair or deceptive about a retailer deciding which

product offerings it believes will be most appealing to its

customers, and then letting customers accept or decline those

offers based on their own evaluation."

The company faces a number of other lawsuits from consumers

and government agencies. The Hagens Berman firm has sued Amazon ( AMZN )

in other cases for alleged violations of U.S. antitrust law.

In another pending case, also in Seattle, the U.S. Federal

Trade Commission last year accused Amazon ( AMZN ) of using deceptive

user-interface designs to trick shoppers into automatically

renewing paid subscriptions for its Prime service. Amazon ( AMZN ) has

denied the allegations.

The case is Taylor et al v Amazon.com Inc ( AMZN ), U.S. District

Court, Western District of Washington, No. 2:24-cv-00169-MJP.

For plaintiff: Steve Berman and Barbara Mahoney of Hagens

Berman Sobol Shapiro

For Amazon ( AMZN ): John Goldmark of Davis Wright Tremaine and John

Schmidtlein of Williams & Connolly

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