The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has reversed its earlier decision and granted Epic Games' motion for reconsideration regarding Apple’s App Store rules. This follows a recent court ruling that required Apple to alter its policies on alternative payment methods.
Earlier in the month, the court had temporarily paused this enforcement while Apple sought a Supreme Court review. Epic responded by filing two motions; one contested the time allocated to prepare a counter to Apple's stay request, while the other sought to dismiss Apple's appeal for a stay. Epic described Apple’s actions as a tactic to delay necessary changes to its fee structure.
In its recent ruling, the Ninth Circuit stated that Apple did not sufficiently demonstrate a risk of irreparable harm without the stay. The court noted that even if the Supreme Court were to side with Apple, there would still be ongoing lower court proceedings regarding commission issues. As such, Apple failed to meet necessary criteria under the Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 41(d).