Apple Chided By Judge Over 'Incipient Antitrust Conduct' And Fails To Secure Stay On 'Fortnite' Orders

Apple Inc AAPL failed to stay orders handed in an antitrust case involving “Fortnite '' maker Epic Games.

What Happened: The Tim Cook-led company appealed a ruling from Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers dating back to September. The company asked the judge to keep the ruling in abeyance during the appeals process, reported Reuters. 

The order that the Cupertino, California-based tech giant tried to pause was largely in favor of Apple and related to the company’s lucrative App Store marketplace. 

The case arose after Epic tried to circumvent Apple’s in-app commission by providing alternative payment mechanisms, which led to Fortnite’s ejection from the App Store.

Gonzalez Rogers came down heavily on the iPhone maker. The judge said that Apple's prohibitions on informing consumers about other payment methods indicated "incipient antitrust conduct including supercompetitive commission rates resulting in extraordinarily high operating margins” for the App Store.

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Why It Matters: Apple said it would appeal Gonzalez Rogers' refusal to pause the order in the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, reported Reuters.

The appeals court could grant Apple a temporary stay before the Dec. 9 deadline to implement the September order issued by Gonzalez Rogers.

An Apple spokesperson said that the company “believes no additional business changes should be required to take effect” until all appeals are resolved, as per Reuters.

“We intend to ask the Ninth Circuit for a stay based on these circumstances,” the spokesperson said.

In October, Epic had opposed Apple’s efforts to pause the order and told the court that the tech giant had not met the legal standard for pause.

In August, South Korean lawmakers passed a bill that would make it mandatory for Apple and rival Google, a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc GOOGL GOOG, to open its app marketplace to alternative payment systems.

Price Action: On Tuesday, Apple shares closed 0.25% higher at $150.81 in the regular session. The shares fell nearly 0.1% in after-hours trading.

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