Apple asks Supreme Court to limit Epic Games lawsuit scope

Apple has petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to review a lower court ruling and narrow the scope of an injunction—a court order requiring a party to do or refrain from specific acts—stemming from its long-running lawsuit with Epic Games. The iPhone maker argues that the legal restrictions stemming from the Epic Games lawsuit should not apply to developers who were not part of the litigation, which began in 2020. In its petition, Apple pointed to other technology companies to argue against the broad reach of the ruling. “Epic never brought a class action and never attempted to show that enjoining Apple’s conduct against all other developers — like Microsoft or Spotify, who have nothing to do with Epic — was somehow necessary to provide relief to Epic,” Apple stated in the filing.

Alongside its effort to limit the injunction’s reach, Apple is challenging a civil contempt order—a finding that a party has failed to comply with a court order—issued by the Ninth Circuit. The dispute centers on Apple’s compliance with the court’s requirement that it allow developers to include links in their apps directing users to alternative payment options outside of Apple’s own system. While Apple did permit these external links, it charged a 27% fee on those external purchases. Apple argues that it did not technically violate the injunction because the court’s order did not specifically prohibit charging commissions on external payments.

Epic Games, the developer of Fortnite, has pushed back against Apple’s latest legal petition. The game developer characterized Apple’s move as “one last Hail Mary to delay a conclusion to this case and avoid opening up the gates to payment competition for the benefit of consumers.” The legal battle between the two companies has now lasted five years. Earlier this month, the Supreme Court rejected Apple’s request to pause additional proceedings while the court determined if the sanctions were justified. Despite the ongoing litigation, Epic Games announced this week that Fortnite has returned to the App Store globally, excluding Australia.

Why it matters

This case tests whether a single legal dispute can force structural changes across an entire platform ecosystem, potentially setting a precedent for how courts apply injunctions to companies with broad developer bases.