WASHINGTON, May 29 (Reuters) - A U.S. judge in Seattle

on Tuesday rejected Amazon.com's ( AMZN ) request to dismiss a

Federal Trade Commission (FTC) lawsuit that accuses the company

of enrolling millions of consumers into its paid Amazon Prime

service without their consent.

The lawsuit is part of the Biden administration's ongoing

regulatory and enforcement squeeze on big technology companies.

Attorneys for Amazon ( AMZN ) had urged U.S. District Judge John Chun

to dismiss the FTC's claims. Amazon ( AMZN ) said Wednesday, the "FTC's

claims are false on the facts and the law... We look forward to

the opportunity to present the real facts in the case."

The FTC declined to comment.

The FTC lawsuit filed in June 2023 accused the retailer of

deceptive practices. It argued Amazon ( AMZN ) made it hard to cancel and

knew that a percentage of consumers accidentally signed up for

Prime and that some consumers were charged for multiple months

before they canceled their memberships.

Previously, Amazon ( AMZN ) urged Chun to dismiss the FTC lawsuit,

arguing the company "prominently and repeatedly" disclosed key

terms - including price and automatic renewal - to Prime

customers. Amazon ( AMZN ) also accused the FTC of seeking to punish the

company through "undefined concepts" such as "manipulative"

website designs.

Amazon ( AMZN ) used "manipulative, coercive or deceptive

user-interface designs known as 'dark patterns' to trick

consumers into enrolling in automatically renewing Prime

subscriptions," the FTC said in its lawsuit, which has sought

civil penalties and a permanent injunction to prevent future

violations.

In a separate lawsuit, the FTC in September accused Amazon ( AMZN )

of violating U.S. antitrust law in business practices that

restrict merchants from offering lower prices than Amazon's ( AMZN ).

That case is also pending in Chun's Seattle court and set for

trial in October 2026.

The FTC's Prime lawsuit said Amazon ( AMZN ) "under substantial

pressure" from the FTC changed its cancellation process in

April, before the agency filed its lawsuit. The complaint said

"Amazon ( AMZN ) still requires five clicks on desktop and six on mobile

for consumers to cancel from Amazon.com ( AMZN )."

A 10-day non-jury trial in the case is scheduled for

February 2025.