The Supreme Court agreed to hear an appeal by Apple Inc. regarding a contempt ruling in its long-running antitrust battle with Fortnite-maker Epic Games Inc . In a brief order Tuesday, the justices said they will review lower court decisions that said the iPhone-maker willfully defied a 2021 ruling involving developer fees for its lucrative App Store . The court’s decision adds another chapter to the antitrust battle between Apple and Epic, which began in 2020. In the initial litigation, United States District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers found the App Store – which generates billions of dollars annually from commissions Apple takes from developers on digital sales – didn’t run afoul of federal antitrust laws . However, the judge determined that the company violated California law and ordered Apple to allow developers to direct consumers to cheaper payment options online. The decision was upheld by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and U.S. Supreme Court. In response, Apple allowed developers to point users to the web for transactions, but it imposed a new 27 per cent commission on revenue generated that way. Epic then accused Apple of flouting the 2021 ruling with the new fee. U.S. Supreme Court backs birthright citizenship in blow to TrumpSupreme Court thwarts Trump bid to oust Fed’s Cook for now Following a series of hearings, Rogers found Apple violated her earlier ruling and ordered the company to stop charging commissions on purchases outside its software marketplace. The 9th Circuit upheld Roger’s contempt finding, but remanded the case for additional proceedings on whether Apple should be allowed to collect some commission from developers for use of its intellectual property. Apple subsequently appealed to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court’s order on Tuesday indicated that it would not consider a second issue that Apple raised challenging the judge’s decision to enter a so-called “universal injunction” covering how the company dealt with all developers worldwide. Apple had argued that the injunction ran afoul of the justices’ ruling in an unrelated case last year that narrowed the power of judges to issue such sweeping directives. —With assistance from Greg Stohr and Zoe Tillman. Bloomberg.com
U.S. Supreme Court to hear Apple appeal over Epic App Store fees
