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Epic Games To Take On Apple Antitrust Ruling At Appeal

By  |  November 14, 2022

 Epic Games on Monday will try to overturn portions of a court ruling in an antitrust trial last year that largely favored Apple.

The “Fortnite” creator sued Apple in 2020 alleging that the iPhone maker’s App Store rules, under which software developers must pay commissions of up to 30% on in-app purchases, violated US antitrust law.

After a three-week trial last year, a judge largely sided with Apple, stopping short of dubbing the company an “illegal monopolist” and upholding its right to charge the commissions.

Related: Apple Urges 9th Circuit To Undo California Ruling In Epic Games Suit

But the judge did find that Apple violated its home state of California’s unfair competition law and ordered the company to let developers tell users how to make app purchases outside of its proprietary payment system.

Apple appealed the order, and Epic appealed the finding that Apple did not violate antitrust laws. The two sides will argue their case before the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco on Monday, with representatives from the U.S. Department of Justice and the state of California also making appearances to describe relevant laws.