Apple-Fortnite Judge Backed iPhone Maker in a Similar 2013 Case
- Yvonne Rogers said consumers couldn’t sue over app store fees
- Epic Games is fighting similar fees charged to developers
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Apple Inc.’s showdown with Fortnite maker Epic Games Inc. over app store fees has landed with a judge who gave the iPhone maker a big victory seven years ago in a case raising similar antitrust issues.
U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in Oakland, California, took over the Epic case Wednesday from another judge. Back in 2013, she dismissed a lawsuit claiming Apple’s apps monopoly cost consumers hundreds of millions of dollars in overcharges. Plaintiffs requested a new judge after the U.S. Supreme Court revived the case in 2019, saying Rogers was too hostile to their legal position, but an appeals court denied their request.