Apple And Facebook Now Clash Over Document Requests In Epic Legal Battle

Facebook Inc. FB is clashing with Apple Inc. AAPL over document requests related to the legal dispute between “Fortnite” video game developer Epic Games Inc. and App Store, AppleInsider reported Monday.

What Happened: Facebook and Apple argued about the document request in a joint discovery letter filed with the court on Monday, as per the report. Facebook is involved in the ongoing dispute because its executive Vivek Sharma is reportedly set to testify as a witness on behalf of Epic.

Despite repeated requests from Apple for a “limited set of documents” required for a cross-examination of Sharma, Facebook reportedly refused to produce the documents. Sharma will testify about the App Store, iOS app distribution, and Facebook's relationship with Apple.

Facebook is said to have already provided Apple with more than 1,600 documents, including about 200 documents involving Sharma specifically. However, Apple believes there are about 17,000 documents related to Sharma that are relevant to the case.

Facebook said that producing those documents is an “untimely, unfair, and unjustified request to redo fact discovery,” as per the report.

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Apple is asking the court to order Facebook to comply with its request for the documents. The bench trial is slated to kick off on May 3 and is likely to be held in person, according to the report.

See Also: Facebook Faces Internal Criticism Over Promoting China State Propaganda On Uyghurs: WSJ

Why It Matters:  Last August, Apple and Alphabet Inc. GOOGL GOOG were taken to court by Epic after its Fortnite game was removed from the app stores run by the two companies. The removal came after Epic tried to bypass a cut charged on in-game purchases by the tech giants. Apple has countersued Epic.

Apple and Google have been facing several allegations surrounding their app store policies, including fees for digital purchases. In November last year, Apple slashed its App Store fee to 15% for small businesses earning up to $1 million per year. The move was replicated by Google in March this year.

Meanwhile, Facebook has previously clashed with Apple over the iPhone maker’s upcoming privacy updates to its iOS 14 operating system. However, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said last month that his social media company will be “in a good position” when Apple enforces the rules.

Price Action: Facebook shares closed 3.4% higher on Monday at $308.91, while Apple shares closed about 2.4% higher at $125.90.

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