A U.S. appeals court has once again ruled that Apple's App Store policies don't violate federal antitrust law, siding with Apple in a years-long legal challenge brought by Fortnite maker Epic Games Inc.
In a 2-1 ruling, the three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld a lower court’s 2021 ruling that mostly favored Apple.
- In 2021, Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ruled that Apple does not have a monopoly on the mobile app market.
- On Monday, the federal appeals court issued a 91-page decision siding with Apple in nine of 10 claims made in Epic's lawsuit.
- However,
they did agree with the lower court that Apple violates California's
Unfair Competition Law by not allowing app developers to steer users to
alternate payment options outside of Apple's App Store.
- Reports
noted that Apple may seek a rehearing in the next 14 days and/or file a
petition to appeal that ruling to the Supreme Court.
- If
unsuccessful, however, iOS developers may be allowed in the future to
add links inside their apps directing customers to outside websites to
make payments. This would circumvent Apple's up to 30% fee for apps and
in-app purchases.
