Summary
- A court ruled Google an illegal monopoly and mandated changes to its app store practices, including allowing third-party stores and alternative payment systems. These changes were set to take effect in November 2024.
- Google is appealing the ruling, arguing ‘legal errors’ in the original trial. A stay has been granted, delaying the implementation of the remedies while the appeals process proceeds.
- Google asserts that the judge allowed Epic Games to present a flawed narrative to the jury, suggesting that Google and Apple are not competitors in the app marketplace and payment processing space.
Epic Games’ lawsuit against Google came to a conclusion late in 2023, with the Mountain View-based tech giant being ruled an illegal monopoly. Subsequently, late last year, US District Court for the Northern District of California’s Judge James Donato issued a final ruling in the case, laying down a bunch of remedies to curb the tech giant’s anti-competitive practices.
The remedies were supposed to go into effect in the month of November 2024, but Google’s appeal has kept them at bay, at least for now.
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For reference, these were the permanent injunctions that were supposed to kick in starting November 1, 2024:
- Google to open up the Google Play Store to other third-party app stores like the Epic Games Store.
- Google has been prohibited from making strategic deals with carriers and device makers to have its Play Store pre-installed, or, prevent the installation of competing app stores on devices until November 1st, 2027.
- Allow alternative methods to pay for apps and in-app purchases wherein the user doesn’t have to go through Google Play Billing
The tech giant requested an emergency stay against the remedies in October, stating that the close November 1 deadline wouldn’t have given it enough time to mitigate the risks connected to opening up its app store. The stay was awarded on October 18, with the appeal proceedings beginning today in the San Francisco-based 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals.
Decision to follow later this year
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In a Reuters report highlighting Google’s court filings, the news agency suggested that the tech giant is looking to overturn the previous jury verdict and the subsequent remedies that come with it. Google’s core case here is that Judge Donato made “legal errors” in the antitrust case that gave Epic Games the edge.
According to Google, Judge Donato allowed Epic to present arguments to the jury that suggest Google and Apple are not competitors in the app marketplace and payments space, which it feels is far from the truth. Additionally, the tech giant feels that Judge Donato overstepped by issuing a nationwide injunction, rather than focusing just on Epic Games.
Epic Games, on the other hand, is steadfast. It has urged the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals to uphold the original verdict, accusing Google of running a “years-long strategy to suppress competition among app stores and payment solutions.”
The Court of Appeals will issue a ruling later this year. Regardless of the outcome, the losing party will likely take the appeal to the US Supreme Court.
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