Today, lawyers for Google are set to appear before a U.S. appeals court, seeking to overturn a jury verdict and a judge’s order requiring the company to change its app store.
According to court documents, Google argues that a trial judge made legal errors in an antitrust case that unfairly favored Epic Games. In its appeal, Google states that Judge Donato wrongly permitted Epic Games to assert to jurors that Google and Apple are not competitors in app distribution and in-app payments, claiming the judge was functioning as “a central planner responsible for product design.”
In 2020, Epic Games accused Google of monopolizing the market by controlling how consumers access and pay for apps on Android devices.
In 2023, Epic Games successfully convinced a jury that Google acted illegally by stifling competition.
In October 2024, U.S. District Judge James Donato mandated that Google reform its app store to enhance market competition. The reforms, currently on hold while the court considers Google’s appeal, would allow users to download rival app stores within the Google Play Store by enabling those competitors to access Play’s app catalog.
Epic Games said it is committed to “fight to ensure that the jury’s verdict and the court’s injunction are upheld and Google is held to account for its anticompetitive behavior.”
By CEO NA Editorial Staff
