Supreme Court Declines To Review Epic Versus Apple Antitrust Case Ruling

(RTTNews) - The Supreme Court has declined to review the antitrust case between Apple (AAPL) and Epic Games, where Epic Games sought a ruling to prevent Apple from making changes to its App Store rules.

Both companies requested the Supreme Court to review the case which was earlier ruled in favor of Apple in 2022 by California Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers and upheld by Ninth Circuit in April 2023.

The case stems from Epic Games' accusations that Apple's App Store rules are "anti-competitive" and bar the developer from offering an alternate method to users to download its app.

On the other side, Apple alleged that Epic Games' plan to provide an alternate way to users was to avoid the payment of commission fees charged for in-app purchases by the tech company.

Apple usually takes a 15 percent to 30 percent cut for in-app purchases of digital goods and services. The company has for years prevented developers from using buttons, links or other features, to direct users to purchase in-app content through any other method than Apple's.

Previously, the lower court had ruled that developers must comply with Apple's rules to reach its customers. However, it also included an injunction to force the smartphone maker to allow the developers to offer alternate payment methods to users.

The injunction is yet to come into force. Earlier, the Ninth Circuit delayed the implementation of the injunction as Apple requested an appeal in the Supreme Court.

Apple said in its Supreme Court filings that the order issued by the federal district court was unconstitutionally broad as it could affect potentially millions of app developers who were not included in Epic Games litigations. It also said that the ruling would trigger lasting changes in the app store.

Reacting to the Supreme Court's decision, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney called it a "sad outcome for all developers".

Sweeney further posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, "These awful Apple-mandated confusion screens are over and done forever," as he looked forward to the injunction which would allow the developers to let the customers know about "better prices on the web".

In a related scenario, the Supreme Court had earlier declined to hear Epic Games' appeal which claimed that Apple's app store practices violate certain features of California's unfair competition law.