Apple has filed a new brief in which it says that Epic Games lost the Epic v. Apple trial because it failed to prove wrongdoing — and not because of any legal errors the judge made.
The Cupertino iPhone maker on Thursday filed a Principal and Response Brief with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals concerning the appeals and cross-appeals in the Epic Games v. Apple case.
The brief outlines why Apple believes that Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Roberts did not make any legal errors in her decision to essentially hand Apple a win in the case.
“Epic did not lose the trial due to any legal error,” the brief reads. “Epic lost because it ‘overreached’ by asserting claims on the ‘frontier edges of antitrust law.'”
Epic Games has argued in its appeal that Judge Gonzalez Roberts had “erred” in her judgment. The Epic Games document measures in at around 135 pages and details Epic’s arguments as to why it lost nine of ten counts.
Epic in August 2020 implemented a direct payment feature in the iOS version of “Fortnite” in violation of Apple’s App Store policies. Apple subsequently removed the game, and Epic Games filed a lawsuit.
Epic Games had argued that it’s been denied access to iOS, which it claims is an “essential facility” due to the fact it’s been blocked access to the App Store. Apple is specifically accused of violating Section 2 of the Sherman Act through “its unlawful denial to Epic and other app distributors of an essential facility—access to iOS.”
In September 2021, Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ruled that Apple was not a monopoly. However, Apple would be forced to change its “anti-steering” rules that prohibit developers from directly communicating with customers about alternate payment options.
Both parties have appealed the court ruling. In December 2021, Apple won a bid to gain a stay on the “anti-steering” injunction in December 2021.
(Via AppleInsider)