A Manhattan Judge, Denise Cote, has ruled that Apple conspired with publishers to fix the price of electronic books. The US Department of Justice said the conspiracy was designed to challenge online retailer Amazon’s dominance of the fast-growing e-books market. Five other publishers, including Penguin, were originally named alongside Apple and have already reached settlements. Tom Neumayr, a spokeman for Apple, said that they would appeal against the ruling and fight “false allegations”.Apple’s attorney, Orin Snyder, had previously told the court that Judge Cote would set a “dangerous precedent”‘ if she concluded that Apple manipulated e-book prices. After the hearing Mr Neumayr insisted that Apple had done nothing wrong and had, in fact, brought innovation and competition to the market. The judge has now ordered a new hearing to determine damages to be imposed on Apple.The contents of this article are intended for general information purposes only and shall not be deemed to be, or constitute legal advice. We cannot accept responsibility for any loss as a result of acts or omissions taken in respect of this article.Setfords Solicitors are a national full service law firm, with intellectual property solicitors in Birmingham and across the country.