Judge Suggests Apple vs Epic Should Go To Jury

During Monday’s hearing for Epic and Apple’s legal battle over the App Store and “Fortnite,” the judge suggested that the public’s opinion is important, with the matter otherwise penciled-in for a July bench trial, reported Reuters.

“I know I’m just a stepping stone for all of you,” District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers said during a virtual hearing from Oakland, California.

Epic Games sued Apple in August, alleging the iPhone maker’s 30% commission on purchases made through Apple’s App Store was anticompetitive. The judge’s comments came during a hearing to decide whether to keep in place an emergency order saying Apple could remove “Fortnite” from the App Store but could not harm Epic’s developer tool business.

As for the rest of the schedule, there’s a deadline of January 6 for the filing of data for the trial, while the trial itself will be sometime in July. 

The hearing also gave a preview of what the potential trial between Epic and Apple could look like. Based on discussions in the hearing, it seems that it won’t be an easy ride for Epic. 

The judge repeatedly highlighted that the matter was of Epic’s own doing, at times when Epic’s lawyers urged there was harm. Epic forced Apple‘s hand in the matter, and it also has the opportunity to agree to Apple’s rules for “Fortnite” to be readmitted to the App Store.