The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has denied Apple's request for an emergency stay of changes to its App Store rules that were made in a legal battle with Epic Games. The company is thus forced to comply with a district court ruling that allows app developers to place links to third-party payment systems in their products and prohibits Apple from charging fees for such transactions, CNBC reports.
Apple filed a lawsuit last month seeking to block Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers' order. The company said that enforcing the order could result in significant financial losses. But the appeals court ruled that Apple had not proven the need to suspend the order. The court found no reason to believe that the company would suffer irreparable harm or that it was against the public interest.
The lawsuit has been ongoing since 2020, when Epic Games sued Apple over restrictions on the App Store. While Epic initially won only a partial victory, in April 2024 the court found Apple in breach of its previous ruling and issued a new, stricter ruling. Since then, companies like Amazon and Spotify have begun to implement changes. For example, Kindle now has a button that takes you to Amazon.com to buy books, bypassing the App Store and Apple's fees. Spotify has also allowed subscriptions outside of the App Store.
Apple disagrees with the court's decision and said it will continue to fight for its position in the appeals process. The company emphasizes that its goal is to keep the App Store safe and profitable for users and developers.
Instead, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney called the ruling "the end of a long national horror called the Apple tax," alluding to the company's long-standing dominance in the mobile app space. Incidentally, Sweeney previously said that Epic Games had spent more than $100 million on lawsuits with Apple.