Epic to Appeal Apple Ruling
Despite winning on the biggest legal points in its, ahem, epic lawsuit with Apple, Epic is appealing the verdict because it wants Apple branded as a monopolist, which would open it up to federal antitrust regulation.
“Thanks to everyone who put so much time and effort into the battle over fair competition on digital platforms, and thanks especially to the court for managing a very complex case on a speedy timeline,” Epic CEO Tim Sweeney tweeted. “We will fight on.”
As you may recall, Sweeny and Epic are looking to make substantive changes to the dominant mobile app stores to benefit all developers on all platforms, and it is not seeking monetary damages for the ongoing business abuses of Apple and Google. But because Judge Yvonne Gonzalez-Rogers ruled that Epic did not provide enough evidence during the original trial to have Apple branded as a monopolist, Mr. Sweeney now refers to this ruling as a loss.
That explains Epic’s appeal: the firm will now try to provide the court with more evidence of Apple’s monopoly.
As interesting, perhaps, Apple has not indicated whether it will appeal: the theory here is that Apple got what it wanted out of what it sees as a split verdict: It was not outed as a monopolist. And as many are pointing out, this is Apple: it will find a way to recoup any losses it incurs if and when it’s forced to allow third-party payments systems into its ecosystems.
Tagged with Apple v. Epic, Epic Games