Supreme Court Issues Decision on Apple’s App Store
On May 13, 2019, the Supreme Court issued a 5-4 decision in Apple v. Pepper, holding that iPhone users have standing as “direct purchasers” under the Illinois Brick doctrine to sue Apple for alleged monopolistic conduct relating to its App Store fees. The Court did not address the merits of the underlying claim, and the ruling is unlikely to expand significantly the scope of private antitrust claims outside of cases involving online platforms. Nevertheless, the decision will likely encourage plaintiffs to look for other “exceptions” to Illinois Brick and to continue to press for the case ultimately to be overturned.
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