Oliver Haslam on August 20, 2020, 1:54 am

Apple’s Legal Team Could Floor Epic Games With Two Hard Hitting Questions In The Courtroom

The spat between Epic Games and Apple has taken over the news cycle time and time again and that’s not going to change any time soon. But according to one report, Apple’s lawyers already have the upper hand.

The lawyers come from LA-based Gibson Dunn & Crutcher and that firm is said to be the best in the business in terms of antitrust cases. It’s also the same firm that got Apple $539 million after it won a case against Samsung. That time it was patents, but it still stands Apple in good stead.

According to Foss Patents, there are a couple of questions that will likely cause Epic problems right out the gate, starting with the question why Epic can’t just rectify the problem itself. All it needs to do is remove its in-app purchase option and Fortnite will be allowed back onto the App Store.

The court is almost certainly going to ask why Epic can’t just live and comply with the same app developer agreement it had been honoring for years, gladly making a billion-dollar amount, while this litigation is ongoing. Monetary damages would be available even though Epic is so far seeking only injunctive relief. But U.S. courts generally don’t enjoin a party if the movant can be made whole at a later stage by means of a payment.

However, it’s important to remember that Epic isn’t necessarily wanting Fortnite back in the App Store. It wants it to be in an app store of its own, running on iOS.

Epic’s decision to single out Apple via its injunction request is also thought to be a potential stumbling block, with the court wanting to know why Google isn’t in the same boat. That’s a good question, although Google isn’t threatening to remove its developer accounts – something Apple is very much doing right now.