Lawyers representing Alphabet’s Google and Epic Games are preparing to face off before the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals in California on Monday. The legal battle comes as Google seeks to overturn a 2023 jury verdict and an order from US District Judge James Donato that mandates the company to overhaul its app store practices. Google has argued that the judge’s decision in favor of Epic Games was based on legal errors, which it claims unfairly benefited the Fortnite maker.
The case stems from a 2020 lawsuit filed by Epic Games, in which the company accused Google of monopolizing the Android app ecosystem. Epic alleged that Google restricted how consumers could access apps and make in-app transactions, stifling competition in the process. A jury in San Francisco sided with Epic in 2023, finding that Google had engaged in anti-competitive behavior, and Judge Donato subsequently ordered the company to implement changes to restore market competition.
As part of the court’s ruling, Google was directed to allow users to download alternative app stores through its Play Store and make its app catalog accessible to competing app stores. These reforms were intended to open up the Android ecosystem to more competition. However, the enforcement of this order has been put on hold while the 9th Circuit considers Google’s appeal.
Google contends that its Play Store is already in competition with Apple’s App Store, and the company claims that Judge Donato allowed Epic Games to present a biased argument in court. Specifically, Google argues that the trial judge allowed Epic to mislead the jury by asserting that Google and Apple do not compete in app distribution and in-app payments, which Google believes was a key point in the case’s outcome. As the appeal progresses, the legal battle could have significant implications for how app stores operate on both Android and iOS platforms.
