US Supreme Court Dismisses Epic And Apple Appeals, Enforces Original 2021 Ruling
The prolonged legal battle between Epic Games and Apple has finally and unequivocally come to an end after the US Supreme Court dismissed both parties’ respective motions to appeal. The district court’s ruling on Epic’s antitrust lawsuit against Apple is now final and will be enforced to the full extent of the law.
For those who haven’t been following the three-year legal drama, some context is in order. The whole thing started Fortnite Mobile from their respective storefronts after Epic sneakily added a direct purchase button in the game, effectively denying both companies their share of the pie.
Epic countered by slapping Apple and Google with antitrust lawsuits for alleged monopolistic practices. The Epic vs. Apple lawsuit dragged on for the better part of a year with both sides throwing legal jabs at each other, ultimately ending in a ruled in favor of the latter but also issued a permanent injunction that prevents them from blocking third-party in-app purchases (IAPs).
Both parties appealed the ruling with the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals who brought to the US Supreme Court until it dismissed both motions earlier this week and enforced the permanent injunction.
Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney issued a statement on X in response to the decision, saying that, “The Supreme Court denied both sides’ appeals of the Epic v. Apple antitrust case,” tweeted in response to the decision. “The court battle to open iOS to competing stores and payments is lost in the United States. A sad outcome for all developers.”
“Now the District Court’s injunction against Apple’s anti-steering rule is in effect, and developers can include in their apps ‘buttons, external links, or other calls to action that direct customers to purchasing mechanisms, in addition to IAP,’” he continued.
“As of today, developers can begin exercising their court-established right to tell US customers about better prices on the web. These awful Apple-mandated confusion screens are over and done forever. The fight goes on. Regulators are taking action and policymakers around the world are ing new laws to end Apple’s illegal and anticompetitive app store practices. The European Union’s Digital Markets Act goes into effect March 7,” Sweeney concluded.
Epic, however, managed to score an absolute win in its re-filed lawsuit against Google when the US District Court found the latter guilty of monopolistic practices. Google will also be appealing the ruling.
The Supreme Court denied both sides’ appeals of the Epic v. Apple antitrust case. The court battle to open iOS to competing stores and payments is lost in the United States. A sad outcome for all developers.
— Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) January 16, 2024
