In a lawsuit filed in the Court of Appeal of the State of California, Sixth Appellate District, plaintiffs Michelle Beverage and Joseph Mejia are appealing against Apple Inc. The court case ID is H050526 and it was filed on April 25, 2024. The plaintiffs allege that Apple's restrictive contractual terms and coercive conduct towards portable software developers constitute unlawful practices violating both the Cartwright Act and the Unfair Competition Law.
The plaintiffs argue that Apple's conduct towards one developer, Epic Games Inc., and its gaming application Fortnite, is unfair. They challenge the trial court's reliance on Chavez v. Whirlpool Corporation to sustain a demurrer to their cause of action alleging unfair practices by Apple. However, the court disagreed with this argument and affirmed the judgment.
The plaintiffs are seeking for judgment and damages based on allegations that Apple's restrictive contractual terms and coercive conduct have violated antitrust laws and resulted in unfair competition. They claim that these practices have caused harm to both developers and consumers alike.
Justices Adams, Greenwood and Bamattre-Manoukian all concur that the trial court correctly sustained Apple's demurrer. All lower courts judgments have been affirmed.