NEW YORK (Reuters) - Lawyers say they will file a class-action lawsuit against Microsoft Corp. (NasdaqNM:MSFT - news) Monday on behalf of millions of Californians, The New York Times said.
It would be the first of what legal experts say could become a flood of private litigation stemming from the U.S. Justice Department's antitrust action against the software giant, the Times said.
The suit is to be filed by three longtime class-action lawyers, and will accuse Microsoft of using its monopoly in operating systems software to overcharge buyers of Windows 95 and Windows 98, the paper said.
The three lawyers, Terry Gross of San Francisco, Daniel Mogin of San Diego and Francis Scarpulla of San Francisco, plan to file the suit in California Superior court in San Francisco, the paper said.
Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson's findings in the Justice Department case provide a good starting point for the class-action suit, Gross told the Times.
The complaint does not estimate the financial impact to Windows users, but the lawyers are seeking triple damages if the suit leads to an eventual finding of financial harm, the Times said.