The United States Ninth Circuit Court unanimously rejected Apple ‘ s request for reconsideration in a long-standing legal dispute with Epic Gomes. Previously, Apple appealed a decision of the lower court, which required apples to allow developers to direct users to alternative means of payment other than App Store, without restrictions.
Apple indicated that the award extended the scope of the original 2021 judgement and created uncertainty as to what fees it could charge for off-ecosystem transactions. Epic responded in a post: “The Ninth Circuit Court has made it clear that apples must allow developers to guide consumers in choosing alternative payment options and can only charge the administrative costs of a link jump, not a percentage of each purchase.
Apple submitted two independent petitions, one to be re-examined by the original three-member panel and the other to be heard throughout the court, i.e. by the entire Ninth Circuit. The Court stated: “A petition for a court-wide hearing was notified to the full bench that no judge had requested a vote on it. Both the Full Court rehearing and the entire Court hearing were dismissed.” The dispute between Apple and Epic dates back to August 2020, when Epic Games was sued from App Store for circumventing the internal purchase rules. Although the court rejected most of Epic ‘ s claims, it found that Apple had violated California ‘ s unjust competition law by restricting apple developers from directing users to alternative payment.
With both petitions rejected, Apple ‘ s current legal avenues were limited, including the possibility of seeking a new hearing in the United States Supreme Court, which had previously refused to do so.