“Apple does nothing unless it is forced to do it.” — Epic attorney Gary Bornstein.
From The Verge’s “Judge orders Apple to allow external payment options for App Store by December 9th, denying stay” posted Tuesday:
Judge Gonzalez Rogers was skeptical of Apple’s request particularly because it asked for an indefinite stay of the injunction despite saying Apple just wanted more time to evaluate risks. “You haven’t asked for additional time. You’ve asked for an injunction which would effectively take years,” she said. “You asked for an across-the-board stay which could take 3, 4, 5 years.” Perry responded that Apple wanted to delay the changes until the case was resolved — saying that it was confident “we’re going to win the appeal.”
That didn’t sway the judge: in her order Tuesday evening, she accused Apple of wanting “an open-ended stay with no requirement that it make any effort to comply,” and suggested that “Apple has provided no credible reason for the Court to believe that the injunction would cause the professed devastation,” with regards to the company’s argument that it would be harmed by adding external links to alternate payment systems within apps.
Apple says it plans to appeal to the Ninth Circuit for a stay, since it didn’t get one from Judge Gonzalez Rogers. “Apple believes no additional business changes should be required to take effect until all appeals in this case are resolved. We intend to ask the Ninth Circuit for a stay based on these circumstances,” writes an Apple spokesperson.
Pending a stay of some kind, the injunction is scheduled to take effect on December 9th.
My take: Apple in court is Apple at its worst.
Roger’s acts like someone on a power trip.
In summary, whatever Apple’s legal strategy may be there is one message it sends clearly: if you file a suit against us be prepared for a long, laborious and expensive legal journey through all the convoluted judicial paths to resolution.
I think they do, they just don’t have to pursue it as they did before.
“In the first four months of 2020, 258 new patent cases were filed in the Western District. That’s an eightfold increase over the same period in 2018, before Judge Albright was seated.” – Source: Patent Progress dot org
Beware those who attempt to steal or corrupt inventions Apple employees sweated long and hard to craft. However, every firm with deep enough pockets I’ve ever worked for or heard tell of has never hesitated to consult counsel. Never.
Corporate lawyers work in the HQ of every major corporation, filing patent applications, writing letters and hiring outside counsel when the letter doesn’t get the proper response. These lawyers do not project the friendly image of a CEO addressing a conference. They are wolves in expensive suits. EPIC has many lawyers on retainer. As a major investor, Tencent is contributing to Epic’s legal defense. They have very deep pockets along with Chinese government oversight.
Since a Constitutional issue has been invoked, I suspect this will eventually reach SCOTUS. A state statute cannot be enforced outside its borders on the remaining states. This will be interesting to see what eventually happens.
Only philanthropists give money away, and even then there are conditions to the gift.
— Epic attorney Gary Bornstein.
“Apple does a lot it is not forced to do.”
— Kirk DeBernardi
The ruling is fine for Apple. 1) It will have minor impact as most users and most developers will happily pay Apple’s modest fee for the safety and ease of use. 2) Once Apple complies, there’s no remaining legal basis against Apple’s App Store, whether in courts or by regulators.
But not a direct link for payment.
Somehow that might seem presumptuous on the judges part. Who would pay Apple back if it is or has been harmed on this issue? Of course if the judge was really worried about how long Apple could delay the ruling the judge could grant a shorter stay to revisit the issue so Apple couldn’t completely stall. Still seems like the judge is going to end up being involved in writing contract terms. Not usually part of the job.
Any lawyers out there who can clarify/correct me?
If you are not a lawyer please say so in your opinions. It helps others to judge the quality of your opinion.