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A U.S. federal judge denied a bid by Apple Inc on Wednesday to hold off a trial in a case brought by state attorneys general accusing the company of conspiring with five major publishers to fix e-book prices. U.S. District Judge Denise Cote in a brief order said the July 14 trial had already been postponed once and should go forward, paving the way for more than two dozen states to pursue hundreds of millions of dollars in damages. Following a non-jury trial last year, Cote found that Apple from 2009 to 2010 conspired with the publishers to raise e-book prices and impede competitors such as Amazon.com Inc. The trial to assign damages was supposed to be held in May but it was pushed back two months to allow adequate time for class notification, Cotes order said. Apple later on Wednesday asked a federal appeals court to intervene and halt the trial.