By Mike Scarcella

June 16 (Reuters) - Apple must face a proposed class action accusing the iPhone maker of illegally monopolizing the market for digital storage and causing consumers to overpay for its iCloud service, a federal judge in California ruled on Monday.

U.S. District Judge Eumi Lee in San Jose, California, said the plaintiffs in the case had sufficiently alleged Apple violated antitrust law by requiring iPhone customers to use its iCloud data storage service to back up core data and device setting files.

Lee’s new order revived the plaintiffs’ lawsuit after she dismissed an earlier version of it. She said the consumers added substantial new allegations about the importance of data storage for all iPhone files, including restricted ones like settings data.

Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The company has denied any wrongdoing.

An attorney for the consumers had no immediate comment on the ruling.

A Los Angeles resident who said she was paying $2.99 monthly for an iCloud storage plan filed the lawsuit last year.

Apple allows third-party storage for photos and videos but not for some users' data files that are needed to “restore” an Apple device.

Apple has defended its policy as designed to guarantee high levels of security. The company also urged Lee to dismiss the plaintiff’s claims as untimely. Plaintiffs generally face a four-year window to bring claims under U.S. antitrust law.

In her ruling, Lee said it was premature to dismiss the claims as time-barred, but suggested the issue could be revisited later in the litigation.

The plaintiff’s lawyers want to represent a nationwide class of at tens of millions of consumers who purchased iCloud storage plans.

The case is Felix Gamboa v. Apple Inc, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, No. 5:24-cv-01270.

For plaintiffs: Steve Berman and Ben Harrington of Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro

For Apple: Belinda Lee and Sarah Ray of Latham & Watkins

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(Reporting by Mike Scarcella)