Appeals of the ruling in a landmark antitrust case between Apple Inc. AAPL and “Fortnite” maker Epic Games Inc. was rejected by a federal court Monday. Epic Games claimed Apple’s App Store rules used monopoly power to harm companies such as Epic. Apple mostly won the case, though the judge did rule that the tech giant cannot disallow app makers from steering users to payment-processing technology outside of the app, which would help them avoid a system that requires companies to pay Apple up to 30% of their revenue derived from the App Store. Both sides appealed the verdicts that went against them in the trial, and a three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeal for the Ninth Circuit ruled in favor of the previous ruling Monday; the long appeals process is expected to eventually end up at the U.S. Supreme Court. The only reversal in Monday’s decision regarded legal fees. “Today’s decision reaffirms Apple’s resounding victory in this case, with nine of ten claims having been decided in Apple’s favor,” an Apple spokesperson said in an emailed statement. “For the second time in two years, a federal court has ruled that Apple abides by antitrust laws at the state and federal levels.” Epic Games Chief Executive Tim Sweeney said on Twitter that “Apple prevailed at the 9th Circuit Court.” but also noted that “the court’s positive decision rejecting Apple’s anti-steering provisions frees iOS developers to send consumers to the web to do business with them directly there.” Apple’s stock closed up 0.2% Monday at $165.33.
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