Apple Cites Supreme Court Ruling To Push Back On Broad App Store Injunction In Epic Games Case

Apple’s latest legal strategy in its long-running legal fight with Epic Games cites a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling on birthright citizenship to support its position on App Store rules.

In a Tuesday filing with the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, first reported by Reuters, Apple cites the recent ruling not because of the substance of that case, but because of its broader legal implications for judicial authority. Specifically, the limits it places on “universal” or nationwide injunctions. 

Apple’s stock edged 0.5% lower in morning trade on Wednesday. On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around the company improved to ‘extremely bullish’ territory from ‘bullish’ a day ago.

In a June decision, the Supreme Court signaled that federal judges cannot issue sweeping orders that apply beyond the immediate parties involved in a lawsuit unless there is clear legal justification. 

Apple is now arguing that this ruling supports its position in its ongoing legal battle with Epic Games, where a lower court ordered Apple to make broad changes to its App Store policies that would benefit all developers, not just Epic.

In Apple’s view, the lower court overstepped by issuing an order with industry-wide impact based on a lawsuit filed by a single company acting on its behalf, not as a class action. 

“Epic opted out of a developer class action (since settled) and elected to pursue this case alone, not on behalf of other developers, making the district court’s universal injunctions all the more inapt,” the tech giant said in its filing.

Apple also argued that the lower court wrongly punished it by issuing a contempt order. It stated that contempt usually meant pressuring someone to follow an existing court order, rather than punishing them or creating new rules. In this case, the tech giant said that the judge imposed a new rule, which forced Apple to charge zero commission to developers.

Apple has urged the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to scale back or overturn the order requiring it to open the App Store to more competition.

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