Advertisement

U.S. judge urges Apple, Epic Games to put antitrust claims before jury

(Reuters) - A federal judge in California on Monday urged Apple Inc and "Fortnite" creator Epic Games to take their antitrust dispute before a jury, saying the higher courts would be less likely to overturn the result.

“I know I'm just a stepping stone for all of you,” District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers said during a virtual hearing from Oakland, California.

Epic Games sued Apple in August, alleging the iPhone maker's 30% commission on purchases made through Apple's App Store was anticompetitive. The judge's comments came during a hearing to decide whether to keep in place an emergency order saying Apple could remove "Fortnite" from the App Store but could not harm Epic's developer tool business.

(Reporting by Stephen Nellis in San Francisco; editing by Jonathan Oatis)