Epic Games Loses Anti-Trust Battle With Apple Inc.: Requests Reentry Into App Store But Gets Rejected

Apple Inc. has won a legal battle against Epic Games over the latter's attempts to bypass the infamous "Apple Tax". A US court has rejected most of Epic Games' claims against Apple.

The US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld a lower-court judge's 2021 ruling and ruled that Apple did not violate any federal law by not allowing any competing marketplaces on its iOS platform. Epic Games and several other developers had raised their voices against Apple's 30 percent commission on every transaction that takes place in the Apple iOS App Store.

Apple Wins Legal Battle Against Epic Games And Other App Developers

An appeals court has ruled in favor of Apple regarding its App Store rules. Apple won the initial court battle against Epic Games back in 2021.

Epic Games had sued Apple after the game developer attempted to introduce its own payment system into Fortnite. The primary intention was to avoid paying a 30 percent commission to Apple for each transaction.

Needless to say, Epic Games broke Apple's rules and violated the terms of the contract. As a result, Epic Games was banned from the App Store.

Epic Games sued Apple and quickly received support from multiple other developers who also faced issues with Apple's rules. However, a lower court in the US sided with Apple and decided that Epic Games had wronged the iPhone maker.

As a response, Epic Games and several other app developers filed an appeal. After deliberating on the appeal, the Ninth Circuit Court has stood by that decision wherein it was said that Apple did not violate antitrust law by banning competing app marketplaces on iPhones.

US Appeals Court Has Merely Enforced Existing Precedent

An Apple spokesman said, "Today's decision reaffirms Apple's resounding victory in this case, with nine of 10 claims having been decided in Apple's favor. For the second time in two years, a federal court has ruled that Apple abides by antitrust laws at the state and federal levels."

It is important to note that the Appeals Court in the US has merely reiterated the decision the lower court had made. The decision does not determine the future, but establishes or enforces the present-day rules, indicated the three-judge appeals panel.

"There is a lively and important debate about the role played in our economy and democracy by online transaction platforms with market power. Our job as a federal court of appeals, however, is not to resolve that debate - nor could we even attempt to do so. Instead, in this decision, we faithfully applied existing precedent to the facts."

The judges appear to have subtly suggested that Apple won because Epic Games violated an agreement. Incidentally, Epic CEO Tim Sweeney wrote to Apple asking it to reactivate the company's Fortnite developer account. He even stated the company will "adhere to Apple's guidelines whenever and wherever we release products on Apple platforms". Apple has rejected the request claiming it won't entertain the company until the legal battle is entirely over.