A district court in San Jose, California, released over the weekend its decision on a class-action lawsuit file in 2010 by iPad owners over an Apple and AT&T promotion for unlimited 3G data plans for the iPad 3G.

The court ordered the two tech companies to pay owners of iPad 3G, who purchased their tablets before June 7, 2010, as settlement of the lawsuit $40 cash and data discounts. For buyers of the tablet who did not signed up for AT&T data plan would get a 5GB plan and a $20 monthly discount for up to one year.

Consumers filed a class-action lawsuit against the two in 2010 for ending unlimited data plans for iPads that year after a number of iPads were sold, while AT&T sold user 2GB of data for $25 monthly.

In filing the lawsuit, the iPad owners said that Apple's bait-and-switch move led them to overpay for their tablets and at the same time deprived them "of promised access to an unlimited data plan."

Apple will start to contact iPad 3G owners eligible to file a claim by early 2014 once the settlement receives final approval.

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