After just over three weeks of testimony, evidence, debating over what the definition of a “game” is, and more, the Epic vs. Apple trial has officially adjourned. Now, Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers will retreat and analyze the testimony to make a ruling in the case sometime over the coming months.
In lieu of traditional closing arguments, today’s final day of the trial consisted of three hours of back-and-forth between Judge Rogers and lawyers for Apple and Epic. Judge Rogers asked both sides a variety of questions about the past three weeks of testimony.
One of the points Judge Rogers repeatedly mentioned during today’s trial was that customers have the ability to choose which ecosystem they use, referring to Android vs. iOS. “There’s a lot of evidence in this trial that in the fore-market of devices, it’s Apple’s business strategy to create a particular kind of ecosystem that is attractive to purchasers,” Judge Rogers said.
Another focus of today’s closing session was anti-steering. This refers to Apple’s guidelines that state developers are not allowed to “steer” customers to make digital purchases outside of the App Store. Here, Judge Rogers specifically referenced an anti-steering credit card case that previously made it to the United States Supreme Court.
Judge Rogers also pressed Epic specifically on potential remedies. “I still don’t understand where you expect this to go,” she said at one point. Epic’s lawyer explained that Apple does not have to give away access to the iPhone ecosystem but rather get rid of restrictions that are specifically anti-competitive.
Judge Rogers noted that Epic, however, likely does have “ulterior motives” in this case. ”Epic is here because if relief is granted, they go from a multibillion-dollar company to a maybe-trillion-dollar company, who knows. But they won’t do it out of the kindness of their heart,” she said.
What’s next?
Now that testimony has wrapped, the Epic vs. Apple trial has officially been adjourned. Judge Rogers had at one point mentioned a decision coming by August 13, but it turns out this was her attempt at a joke because August 13 was the date of when Epic rolled out its “hot fix” payment solution to circumvent the App Store.
Judge Rogers did not provide a specific date on when she hopes to make a decision, but she did say she wants to “get to this while the memory of testimony is fresh.” She’ll have over 4,500 pages of testimony to review, however, so it will take a while.
Now that the trial has wrapped, what do you think about the potential outcomes of the Epic vs. Apple case? Do you have any predictions on what the judge might decide? Let us know down in the comments.
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