Google Appeals Epic's Antitrust Victory Over Play Store Policies

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Google Appeals Epic's Antitrust Victory Over Play Store Policies

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Google on Wednesday urged a federal appellate court to reverse a finding that the Play Store policies violated antitrust law, and to vacate an injunction that would require the company to revamp its app marketplace.

“This case involves an extraordinary attempt by a lone competitor to use the federal judiciary to restructure the day-to-day operations of Google’s app store, Google Play, and to unilaterally reshape markets with consequences for millions of non-parties,” Google writes in an appellate brief filed with the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

“If not reversed, the injunction and the flawed liability ruling underlying it will directly undercut Google’s efforts to compete against Apple and the iPhone,” Google adds.

The company's argument comes in a battle dating to 2020, when Forniter developer Epic Games brought antitrust suits against both Google and Apple. Epic sued soon after both Google and Apple removed Fornite from their mobile app marketplaces for allegedly attempting to bypass Google and Apple commissions on in-app purchases. (Both Google and Apple charge a commission on purchases made in apps that have been downloaded from Google Play or the App store.)

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Epic's suit against Apple went to trial in 2021, and largely resulted in a defeat for Epic. U.S. District Court Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in the Northern District of California, who presided over the non-jury trial, ruled that Epic failed to prove the bulk of its claims. Rogers said in her ruling that Google and Apple compete to distribute apps.

Nearly two years later, Epic's suit against Google went to trial. In that matter, a jury found that Google created or maintained an illegal monopoly in two “markets” -- Android app distribution, and Android in-app billing. The jury also found that Google wrongly tied company's ability to distribute through the Play store to Google's payment system.

Last month, U.S. District Court Judge James Donato in San Francisco, who presided over the Google trial, issued a sweeping injunction that requires Google Play to host other companies' app stores, and give those companies access to Google's library of apps. The injunction also prohibits Google from forcing developers to use its billing system for Play Store apps, among other provisions.

The injunction is currently stayed.

Google is now asking the 9th Circuit to reverse jury's verdict and to permanently vacate the injunction.

Among other arguments, Google says the jury's verdict should be thrown out because it's inconsistent with Rogers' ruling in Epic's suit against Apple.

Donato wrongly “allowed Epic to argue that Google and Apple do not compete in app distribution and in-app billing markets, even though Epic already fully litigated and lost that issue in its case against Apple,” Google argues.

The company adds that Rogers' ruling should have precluded Epic from pursuing a “litigation do-over.”

Google also says the injunction should be set aside for numerous reasons, including that it's too broad.

“At the request of Epic -- a single, self-interested competitor -- the court adopted a sweeping, nationwide injunction fundamentally altering Google’s relationships with Play’s users, developers, and other partners throughout the United States,” Google argues.

The 9th Circuit is expected to hear arguments in the case on February 3.

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November 27, 2024 at 04:31PM