Apple, Epic Ask US Appeals Court To Reconsider Its Antitrust Ruling

Apple and 'Fortnite' maker Epic Games have both asked a U.S. appeals court to reconsider its April ruling in an antitrust case that could force Apple to change payment practices in its App Store. From a report: Apple and Epic, in separate court filings, mounted challenges to a ruling by a three-judge panel of the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Lawyers for the two companies said the panel should rehear the case or the court should convene 'en banc,' as an 11-judge panel, to reconsider the dispute. The April three-judge ruling upheld a 2021 order in California federal court in Epic's lawsuit which accused Apple of unlawfully requiring software developers to pay up to 30% in commissions on consumers' in-app purchases.

The trial judge found that Apple violated a California state unfair competition law, but not U.S. antitrust provisions. Apple's new filingchallenged a nationwide injunction over conduct Apple said was 'procompetitive and does not violate the antitrust laws.' Epic's 9th Circuit filing argued that its claims against Apple directly implicate the 'core purpose' of U.S. antitrust law to foster competition. Epic also argued that the appeals court did not conduct a 'rigorous' balancing between asserted asserted consumer benefits and anticompetitive effects of Apple's practices.

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