Apple has filed an emergency motion asking the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to pause key parts of a recent ruling that dramatically changes how the App Store operates, following a contempt finding in its long-running legal battle with Fortnite maker Epic Games.
In court documents filed Wednesday, Apple called the district court's order "extraordinary" and argued it unlawfully forces the company to permanently give up control over "core aspects of its business operations."
"A federal court cannot force Apple to permanently give away free access to its products and services, including intellectual property," Apple's lawyers wrote in the motion.
Apple is specifically seeking to halt two major provisions while its appeal moves forward: a ban on charging any commissions for purchases made through external links, and restrictions on Apple's ability to set conditions for how those links appear in iOS apps.
The emergency filing comes after Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers found Apple in contempt last week for violating her 2021 injunction, which required the company to allow developers to include links to alternative payment methods. The judge determined that internal company documents showed Apple deliberately violated her earlier order.
Apple complied with the latest ruling immediately but is now asking for relief from what it describes as "punitive" measures that would cost it "hundreds of millions to billions" of dollars annually. The company wants the appeals court to issue a ruling by May 28.
"These new rules are not temporary sanctions for non-compliance that Apple can purge," the filing states. "Instead, the district court took the highly irregular step of imposing new, different, and permanent restrictions."
At the heart of the dispute is how Apple implemented the original 2021 injunction. After losing at trial, Apple created a new entitlement system that allowed developers to include links to external payment options, but imposed a 12-27% commission on purchases made through those links and restricted where the links could appear.
Epic Games argued this framework violated both the letter and spirit of the court's order, and Judge Gonzalez Rogers ultimately agreed, finding that Apple's approach "undermine[d] the spirit of the injunction by limiting competition."
In its emergency motion, Apple contends the judge exceeded her authority by essentially setting its prices at zero and taking control over how developers can present alternative payment options within apps.
Several major apps including Spotify, Kindle, and Patreon have already updated their iOS apps to include direct links to external payment methods since the ruling took effect.
Epic Games responded to Apple's emergency motion by calling it "a last ditch effort to block competition and extract massive junk fees at the expense of consumers and developers." The company added that it was "full speed ahead to bring Fortnite to iPhones and iPads in the U.S. this week."
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