Apple Will Have To Face Antitrust Lawsuit From Creator Of App Store For Jailbroken iPhones, iPads

Apple Inc’s AAPL attempts to have an antitrust lawsuit by Cydia dismissed have come to naught. 

What Happened: The Tim Cook-led tech giant reportedly argued that allegations by Cydia that it had a monopoly over software distribution on its mobile operating system fell outside of the statute of limitations. 

The contention was dismissed by California U.S. district judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, according to a Reuters report.

The amended complaint, filed by Cydia, accused Apple of issuing technological updates between 2018 and 2021 that were “overt” acts harming iOS app stores like Cydia.

Gonzalez Rogers ruled that “to the extent plaintiff's claims rely on Apple's technological updates to exclude Cydia from being able to operate altogether, those claims are timely."

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Why It Matters: Cydia is a third-party app store. It can only be used for jailbroken iPhones and iPads. The app store contains many apps that fail to be approved by Apple. 

Jailbreaking refers to removing restrictions put in by the manufacturer pertaining to unauthorized installation of software.

Apple has until mid-June to respond to Cydia, reported Reuters.

Gonzalez Rogers had also dismissed an earlier challenge by SaurikIT LLC, which developed Cydia, saying it fell outside of the statute of limitations, but allowed the latter to bring a new complaint, noted Reuters.

In November, Gonzalez Rogers had chided Apple over what she said was “incipient antitrust conduct” related to a case involving Epic Games, the maker of “Fortnite," but ruled largely in favor of the iPhone maker.

Epic and Apple had entered a legal imbroglio over in-app payments, which led to Fortnite being dropped from the App Store. The two companies are still engaged in a legal battle before the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. 

Price Action: On Friday, Apple shares closed 4.1% higher at $149.64 in the regular trading session, according to data from Benzinga Pro.

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