Google wants judge to throw out jury verdict in Epic case

Google is reportedly asking a judge to overturn the jury verdict in its antitrust case with Epic. Google spent the better part of the last few months of 2023 battling it out in court with Epic in an antitrust case over Google’s market dominance with the Play Store. US District Judge James Donato ruled in Epic’s favor, stating that Google operates the Play Store as an illegal monopoly. This marked a pretty major win that could very well have ramifications for how Google does business going forward.

That’s if Google isn’t successful in getting Judge Donato to overturn the verdict in the case against Epic. A court filing from February 1 (spotted by Reuters) details Google’s request for the verdict to be thrown out. Such a decision would likely not sit well with Epic or Sweeney. Especially after Sweeney’s energetic response to X users last year about taking the fight to Cupertino in an attempt to push through their own appeal in the case Epic had against Apple.

The court filing is requesting one of two things. Asking that Judge Donato either grant a new trial or overturn the verdict and rule in Google’s favor. It’s not clear what Donato’s response will be. He has yet to either reject the new trial idea or overturn the verdict. Even if Google’s requests are rejected, however, it isn’t left without recourse.

If Judge Donato won’t overturn the Epic case verdict, Google can still appeal

It seems like Google would much rather have Judge Donato go with one of its two requests. But even should those two requests be rejected, Google can still move forward with an appeal in 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals. If the company decides to go this route, there’s no guarantee it’ll receive a positive response there either.

Worth noting is that Google could also be waiting a while for a response. When and if Google appeals the ruling in the 9th Circuit Court, it could end up waiting months before a decision is made. To which the court may simply uphold the initial court ruling.

In its request for a new trial, Google says that Epic has “not presented adequate evidence to support the jury’s December verdict.” In this case, Epic insisted that Google was stifling alternative app stores. Doing so by paying billions to developers to abandon efforts for those stores. Those exclusive deals locked in Google’s dominance, Epic said.