Apple has asked the Supreme Court to reconsider a previous ruling in its fight against Epic Games that would change the rules of the App Store.
In a cert petition, filed Thursday and embedded below, Apple criticized a prior decision that would force it to allow app developers to point their users toward alternative payment options beyond the App Store. That injunction remains in limbo as Epic and Apple seek to elevate their ongoing battle to the high court, but would go into effect if the Supreme Court declines to take on the case.
Apple called the ruling that would force it to allow payment workarounds in its app marketplace “breathtakingly broad” because it would apply not just to Epic Games but to all app makers.
“In this single-plaintiff case, the district court sua sponte issued a universal injunction prohibiting petitioner Apple Inc. from enforcing one of its contractual guidelines against all developers of apps on the App Store’s United States storefront — of which there are millions — not just against respondent Epic Games, Inc,” the company wrote in the new petition obtained by TechCrunch.
“The Ninth Circuit affirmed on the ground that extending injunctive relief to some nonparties—approximately 100 other app developers—was necessary to redress Epic’s alleged injury. Neither court ever found, or even considered, whether relief as to all affected nonparties was necessary or appropriate.”
Epic filed its own petition to the Supreme Court on Wednesday, asking the high court to revisit its core allegation – that Apple violates federal antitrust laws with its lucrative App Store business. While the lower courts did side with Epic on the matter of promoting external payment options, the lion’s share of the ruling came down in Apple’s favor.
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