The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit is considering Apple's case. Neither company was satisfied with the outcome of the original ruling, so they appealed it.
Apple's cross-appeal brief is the final one in the appeal battle, which began in January and has been going on ever since.
Apple maintains that the initial trial was lost because of a flawed argument and "unprecedented" accusations of anticompetitive conduct. Apple is arguing against the injunction that would require Apple to make changes to the App Store.
Despite the fact that Apple's anti-steering rules prevented it from directing customers to other payment methods, Apple claimed that it was an "unprecedented result".
Epic introduced no evidence below that it ever suffered injury-in-fact from the anti-steering provisions, and it cites none on appeal. Having failed to prove such harm--before, during, or after litigation--Epic never had standing to sue under the [California Unfair Competition Law].
According to Apple, the legal requirement of "standing" is no longer applicable to Epic Games because it is not an iOS developer.
Apple has not reinstated its developer account since it was suspended by Epic Games for violating the App Store rules. While the legal dispute is still going on, Apple will not allow the game to be played on the App Store.
According to Apple, the injunction that was handed down as part of the original ruling applies to all developers when it shouldn't. There were no class action lawsuits in the case. In the lawsuit, Apple says that the trial involved only one developer, without any evidence about consumers or other developers.
The court will set a date to hear the arguments. There is still some time to go before Apple makes a decision, as the company says it expects a decision by summer 2023.
The full cross-appeal brief can be read on Scribd.
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