U.S. Judge grants Google’s request to temporarily pause the November 1st Play Store injunction.
Google wins its appeal
In a surprising twist to the Epic Games lawsuit, the Judge who found Google guilty of monopolization in December 2023, later ordering multiple reforms (one of which included opening its Play Store to rival competitors), granted Google’s request to pause the injunction temporarily.
The Epic lawsuit
Epic Games sued Google in 2020, accusing it of monopolizing Android device apps by restricting owners’ access and how they paid for transactions on the platform.
In December 2023, Epic won its lawsuit, and Google was found guilty of oppressing its competitors by controlling app payments and distributions on Android devices.
At the time, Google argued that Epic’s requested remedies were extreme and asked Judge James Donato to deny its proposals.
The U.S. District Judge ignored Google’s arguments, and the tech giant said it would appeal his ruling.
They did, and they won!
Play Store remains closed for now!
In granting Google’s request to pause his order, Judge Donato has delayed the opening of Google’s Play Store to third parties.
Judge Donato’s change of heart also means Google won’t have to modify its app store to accommodate opening it to competitors for the foreseeable future, or if Google wins its coming Ninth Circuit Court appeal, perhaps at all.
For now, at least, Google’s defenses stay steadfast while their pause request remains in place.
Google said this about the Judge’s decision:
- “We’re pleased with the district court’s decision to temporarily pause the implementation of dangerous remedies demanded by Epic, as the Court of Appeal considers our request to further pause the remedies while we appeal.”
Google’s final statement focused on user safety and security:
- “These remedies threaten Google Play’s ability to provide a safe and secure experience, and we look forward to continuing to make our case to protect 100 million U.S. Android users, over 500,000 U.S. developers, and thousands of partners who have benefited from our platforms.”
Epic took an optimistic viewpoint in reply to Judge Donato’s overruling, saying the pause was merely a procedural step:
- “Today, the Court made it clear that Google’s appeal is meritless and rejected their request to delay opening up Android devices to competition while the appeal is ongoing. Google continues to use fear-mongering and unsubstantiated security threats to protect its control over Android devices and continue extracting exorbitant fees. The pause in the injunction is merely a procedural step to allow the Ninth Circuit time to decide Google’s request to stay the injunction pending appeal.”
Google didn’t get it all its own way
Judge Donato didn’t allow everything to go Google’s way. He chose not to pause one crucial element of his recent ruling that could allow Google’s app store rivals to gain ground.
Donato’s original ruling states that from November 1st, 2024, to November 1st, 2027, Google cannot make deals with device makers or carriers to block their app store competitors from preinstallation.
Past deals included upfront financial payments and shares of revenue to ensure Google was the default browser on specific makes of Android devices.
In a relative case brought by the US Justice Department, Google was found guilty of violating anti-trust laws, where U.S. Justice District Judge Amit Mehta said:
- “Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly.”
Looking forward
Google’s latest legal triumph comes soon after it won its appeal against the E.U. Commission’s guilty verdict of market dominance abuse, overturning the imposed €1.49bn fine.
While this is another win for Google, it could be temporary, and it’s just one of many legal battles Google is currently facing.
