Judge believes Apple is violating Epic Games’ U.S. injunction, schedules evidentiary hearing before final decision
Context: Epic Games and Apple are embroiled in an enforcement dispute over a U.S.-wide anti-anti-steering injunction under California Unfair Competition Law that was ordered in September 2021 and entered into force (after the exhaustion of all appeals) in January 2024. Epic Games alleges that Apple’s restrictions on how app makers can inform U.S.-based users of alternative purchasing options, and particularly a commission that is essentially the same as on the App Store but minus the approximate cost of external payment processors like Stripe, violate the injunction, while Apple claims to be in compliance (April 13, 2024 games fray article).
What’s new: Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, who presided over the 2021 Epic v. Apple trial and made the ruling in question, has now reached the preliminary conclusion that Apple is presently out of compliance with the injunction, which could (if not resolved) result in contempt-of-court sanctions. Instead of holding only a short hearing on the matter which was scheduled for April 30, 2024, Judge Gonzalez Rogers has now scheduled a three-day evidentiary hearing for May 8, 10 and 17 in Oakland, California. The court will try to conclude the hearing on the first day (May 8), but just in case more time is needed has also reserved May 10 and 17. Apple had argued that defendants are entitled to such a hearing when there are factual disputes.
Direct impact: The hearing will serve the purpose of looking at what requirements Apple imposes on app makers, such as by looking at the sequence and appearance of on-screen messages and required user interface actions, and to discuss the commission Apple imposes on purchases made within seven days of clicking on an in-app link. It is possible that Apple will make some adjustments, but at this point the most likely next step is that Judge Gonzalez Rogers will, with or without further measures taken by Apple, hold Apple in civil contempt, and Apple will appeal her decision to the Ninth Circuit. As games fray stated previously, Judge Gonzalez Rogers presumably did not anticipate Apple to do what it is doing now that the injunction has entered into force, but the appeals court will be more focused on what the September 2021 decision said than on what the district judge was thinking.
