On Tuesday, a California jury threw out a class-action lawsuit against Apple in which plaintiffs accused the technology giant of having violated antitrust laws by suppressing competition for its iPod music players.

In a unanimous decision that followed a few hours of deliberations, the eight-person panel at the U.S. District Court in Oakland found that Apple's iTunes 7.0 was a genuine improvement and therefore in full compliance with antitrust laws, Wall Street Journal reports.

The plaintiffs had sought $350 million in damages, accusing Apple of changing the iTunes music service so that iPods would not function with other companies' products. Now they say they plan to appeal the decision.

The suit was brought by a group of consumers who purchased iPods from 2006 to 2009, CNBC noted. Their claim could have tripled to more than $1 billion had Apple been found in violation of antitrust laws.

"[The plaintiffs said] iTunes updates, including 4.7, 7.0 and 7.4 were created strictly to introduce FairPlay updates to block competing services from offering music for users to play on their Apple music player hardware," TechCrunch explained.

Imitating a tactic used in similar class-action lawsuits, the plaintiffs cited email from former Apple CEO Steve Jobs, who died in October 2011, pointing to his competitive nature and tireless attempts to protect and promote the company. They showed a recorded video deposition of Jobs.

Apple prevailed with its argument that it had merely improved its iPods by protecting customers from computer security intrusions and creating a better consumer experience.

The jurors concurred, and an Apple spokesman thanked them and said the company "applaud(ed) their verdict."

The trial had a number of other twists because several plaintiffs representing the class were dismissed. For a time, there were doubts as to whether the attorneys even had a plaintiff.