More lawsuits for Apple: A clutch of consumer lawsuits has been filed in the US, accusing the iPhone maker Apple of monopolising the smartphone market, after an antitrust case lodged by the United States’ Justice Department and 15 states last week against the tech giant. 

At least three proposed class actions have been filed since Friday in California and New Jersey federal courts by iPhone owners who claim Apple inflated the cost of its products through anticompetitive conduct.

The lawsuits, claiming to represent millions of consumers, reiterate claims of the Justice Department's claims that Apple violated US antitrust law by suppressing technology for messaging apps, digital wallets and other items that would have increased competition in the market for smartphones.

Apple has denied the government's allegations. The Cupertino, California-based company did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the consumer lawsuits. Attorney Steve Berman, whose law firm Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro filed one of the new cases, noted that his firm had earlier sued Apple for allegedly thwarting competition for its Apple Pay mobile wallet.

"We are pleased that the DOJ (Department of Justice) agrees with our approach," Berman said. The attorneys behind the other new cases did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Apple has said that it is already fighting private lawsuits challenging its business practices as anti-competitive. A judge in February ruled that Apple must face a class action on behalf of millions of consumers claiming it monopolized the market for iPhone apps. Apple has denied the claims.

(With Reuters inputs)