I tend to agree with the article...partly because I am an iPad 3 owner.
The lawsuit refers to Apple historically releasing new updates every 12+ months. In this case, Apple released the iPad 3 in mid March and then updated it again in early November...thus instead of being on a 12-month cycle, it was released 4-5 months early.
Now, the iPad 4 itself isn't any different from the 3 in regards to main/usable features...it simply has a better CPU and GPU if I recall. But still, Apple angered a LOT of people who bought the 3 and then came out with the 4 so quickly. You also need to take into consideration that Apple, HISTORICALLY, has always waited 12+ months to update anything.
Take all this into consideration and you have annoyed people and then lawsuits.
I bought my 3 in March...but if I had bought it in July or later, I would have been extremely upset. The only way to buy the iPad 3 after the 4 was released, was to dig through the Apple website...it was NOT easy to locate. Apple has since made it a bit easier to find the 3.
Overall it was a shady move by Apple.