Apple asks US Supreme Court to overturn anti-steering ruling in Epic case
Following earlier unsuccessful appeals.
As part of its ongoing legal battle with Epic Games, Apple has submitted a filing requesting the Supreme Court overthrows a 2021 ruling made by the US district court of California, which upheld a complaint against Apple's anti-steering practices.
Epic launched its lawsuit against Apple in August 2020, following the iPhone maker's decision to revoke Epic's Fortnite developer account, preventing the battle royale game from being distributed on its devices. Apple made the move after Epic deliberately circumvented contractually mandated App Store payment mechanisms within its Fortnite iOS app, which would have allowed it to avoid Apple's 30 percent platform fees.
As that case reached its conclusion, California's Judge Yvonne Gonzalez-Rogers ruled against Epic in all but one of its 10 claims. However, the one ruling made in Epic's favour - that Apple cannot block developers from linking out to alternative payment methods from within their apps (a practice known as "anti-steering") - has remained a sticking point for the company.
Earlier this year, both Epic and Apple petitioned the US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn the initial ruling with little success. Shortly after, both parties moved to appeal that second verdict, but, as of 30th June, this further appeal has been rejected too. And with another failure under its belt, Apple has now (thanks GamesIndustry.biz) opted take its case to the US Supreme Court as it looks to prevent a block on its anti-steering practices.
Apple is arguing the Ninth Court was wrong to apply an injunction prohibiting it from enforcing its anti-steering rules against all iOS developers when Epic was the sole plaintiff in the case, and that the court should not have issued a nationwide injunction given the case's origins in California. It claims that in doing so, the ruling raises "far-reaching and important questions" about the limits of a federal court's authority. Epic is yet to submit an appeal to the Supreme Court, but the option is available should it wish to do so.
Apple's legal tussles over its anti-steering practices aren't just limited to the US. The company is currently at loggerheads with EU antitrust regulators, which - as part of an investigation sparked by music-streaming service Spotify - has claimed the iPhone maker's anti-steering rules break EU laws prohibiting unfair trading practices.
Apple is widely expected to implement sideloading in this year's iOS 17 in response to the EU's Digital Markets Act, which may provide Epic with an avenue for Fortnite's return.