Apple notched a victory in its battle with the Fortnite publisher Epic Games, when a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued a stay, pending appeal, of a lower court’s order that would make it easier for software developers to route around Apple’s payment system for in-game purchases.
The circuit-court decision on Wednesday specifically targets one element of a permanent injunction issued Sept. 10 by U.S. District Court Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in Epic’s lawsuit against Apple over the way it operates the App Store. That provision barred Apple from stopping developers from including in their apps information on how to make purchases without buying via the app and therefore giving a cut to Apple.
In the two-page decision, the circuit court found that Apple “has demonstrated, at minimum, that its appeal raises serious questions on the merits of the district court’s determination that Epic Games … failed to show Apple’s conduct violated any antitrust laws but did show that the same conduct violated California’s Unfair Competition Law.” The court pointed to another decision that found that such a finding was contradictory—that if you conclude that conduct is not an unreasonable restraint of trade, then you can’t also argue that it is unfair to consumers.
The court also said Apple has “made a sufficient showing of irreparable harm,” and that the remaining factors weighed in favor of staying the provision of the lower-court injunction and maintaining the status quo pending appeal.
Apple said it was pleased with the ruling. “Our concern is that these changes would have created new privacy and security risks, and disrupted the user experience customers love about the App Store,” it said in a statement. “We want to thank the court for granting this stay while the appeals process continues.”
Evercore ISI analyst Amit Daryanani said in a research note that the latest ruling allows Apple to avoid a Thursday deadline for complying with the order.
“Being granted a stay is a win for Apple, as the possibility of the company being forced to allow developers to include in-app links to other payment platforms has been pushed out,” the analyst wrote. “We would note, however, that the overall appeals process outcome remains uncertain.”
The ruling was issued by Circuit Court Judges Diarmuid O’Scannlain, Sidney Thomas and Richard Tallman.
Apple shares rallied 2.3% in Wednesday trading, hitting a new closing high of $175.08. That lifted the company’s market capitalization to $2.87 trillion.