A Federal Appeals Court is now weighing in on a lawsuit between Apple and the maker of Fortnite. Epic Games claims that Apple’s app store fees violate antitrust laws because Apple requires a cut of purchases made by other companies that use its app store.
Epic Games aimed to get the court to allow for third-party app stores and alternate methods of getting apps on iOS devices, but Epic Games largely lost the lawsuit, leading it to file an appeal. Apple won the antitrust suit, but was ordered to allow developers to add in-app links to outside websites where payments could be accepted.
Related: Epic Games To Take On Apple Antitrust Ruling At Appeal
Apple does not want to change its App Store rules and also appealed, leading to the court battle today. Epic Games will argue that the court made “multiple legal errors” in its initial ruling, once again arguing for sideloading to be allowed.
Apple maintains that Epic Games lost the trial because of “unprecedented” and “unfounded” accusations of anticompetitive conduct that ultimately did not sway the judge. Epic, says Apple, made far-reaching claims at the edges of antitrust law, and there is no basis for the ruling to be overturned on appeal. Apple will also argue that the original court made an error when implementing an injunction that will force App Store changes.
