An appeal filed by Epic on Thursday said Judge Gonzales Roberts made a mistake in his antitrust ruling against Epic and Apple. Documents filed by Epic’s lawyers say Epic properly presented its case, while Judge Roberts erred in interpreting the evidence and testimony.
In addition, the game company disagreed with the judge’s stance on Apple’s power in the market, saying it had “sufficient economic power” to force developers to its will. Apple has unlawfully maintained its monopoly in the iOS app distribution and in-app payment solutions market by expressly excluding all competitors, the appeal document said. During the trial, however, Judge Roberts didn’t define the market as Epic did here, or as broadly as Apple had hoped.
It’s unclear why Epic favored their definition in the filing of the appeal, given the precedent of that ruling and previous similar incidents. Epic may hope to overturn the Sherman Act claims and judgment against Apple for breach of contract. Failing that, it still wants the appeals court to agree that there was an error in the ruling and order a full retrial — with specific directions from the appeals court on how to rule the way Epic wants it to be.
If the ruling is not overturned, “the decision would upend established principles of antitrust law and, as the district court itself acknowledged, undermines sound antitrust policy,” the document also said. As things stand, so far, the “established principles” of antitrust law in relation to app stores will have to be rewritten to meet Epic’s definition.
Epic filed its original intent to appeal on September 12, 2021 — just after the trial. The current ruling does not fully satisfy either party. For Apple, the ban actually requires it to allow other payment methods for apps in the App Store, but it does stipulate that it can charge a commission. The judgment stated that Apple did not have a monopoly in the market and that Epic did violate the terms of the contract.
Apple is appealing its need to make changes to the payment method and technology it requires. The matter is being appealed, and an injunction on the changes is in place pending an appeal hearing. Epic has largely failed in its efforts to force Apple to allow third-party app stores to exist on iOS. Changes to payment terms may be generally beneficial to developers.
The gaming company must also pay Apple 30% of the $12 million in revenue it collects through Epic Direct Payment and 30% of any iOS-related revenue from Nov. 1 through Judgment Day — plus interest. The trial was also prompted by Apple’s removal of Fortnite from the App Store after Epic severely violated the developer agreement. For now, the game is still delisted from the Apple App Store and unlikely to return.