Report from the Reuters
In Brief – A three-judge panel of the federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals that had fully upheld the October 2024 District Court injunction in Epic Games’ successful antitrust lawsuit against Google, halted the requirement that it implement sweeping changes to its app marketplace while the digital giant pursues further appeals. The same appeals court judges affirmed the jury finding that Google’s Play Store policies violated antitrust law, rejected various Google challenges to Judge James Donato’s legal rulings during the trial and in his jury instructions, and upheld Judge Donato’s permanent injunction requiring Google to have its Play Store host other companies’ app store apps for three years, and give those competing app stores access to all the apps in Google’s store. Google requested the emergency stay to allow it to appeal that decision to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals for an en banc review, and if it is not granted it will ask the US Supreme Court to take up the case.
Context – Epic filed antitrust suits against both Apple and Google in 2020. The Apple lawsuit quickly proceeded to a 2021 trial. The iPhone giant largely prevailed, winning on all the federal antitrust charges. The lawsuit against Google did not reach its jury trial until late 2023. Google comprehensively lost. The fact that the “closed” Apple ecosystem with a larger market share was on the right side of US antitrust law struck many as odd, but Apple had a bench trial while Google faced a jury of people potentially primed against Big Tech. Plus, Google’s complicated regime of Android rules, contracts, and revenue-sharing deals, especially with device makers, proved problematic. Similar company practices were a major problem in Google’s big antitrust loss to the US Department of Justice that determined they maintained a monopoly in online search. Ironically, Epic Games did prevail against Apple on one complaint involving California’s Unfair Competition Law, but it eventually won an injunction forcing Apple to open its App Store to competing app stores and no longer charge commissions on apps from those stores. And both companies are facing similar demands to open app distribution in Japan, South Korea and other markets.