Apple has failed to persuade a U.S. appeals court to pause key parts of a federal judge’s order requiring the company to open its App Store to more competition, reports Reuters.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has rejected Apple’s request to put the provisions on hold as the company appeals the judge’s order, which came in a long-running antitrust lawsuit brought by “Fortnite” maker Epic Games.
On May 1 US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers said that Apple violated a court order requiring it to open up the App Store to third-party payment options and must stop charging commissions on purchases outside its software marketplace, reports Bloomberg.
This is all part of an ongoing global legal battle between Apple and Epic. On Aug. 13, 2020, Epic Games announced that it had introduced a new direct payment option in the Fortnite app for iPhone and iPad, allowing players to purchase 1000 V-Bucks for US$7.99 rather than $9.99 through Apple’s in-app purchase mechanism. Shortly thereafter, Apple removed the gamer from the App Store for violating store polices and followed up by shutting down the company’s developer account.
Epic immediately filed a lawsuit against Apple in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.In September 2020 Apple filed a countersuit to stop the game maker from using its own payment system for Fortnite. Apple also accused Epic of theft and sought extra monetary damages beyond breach of contract.
The legal battle has bounced back and forth with lawsuits and counter-lawsuits ever since.
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