Apple asks judge to dismiss U.S. antitrust lawsuit

Apple AAPL.O connected Thursday asked a U.S. judge to disregard a suit by national and authorities antitrust regulators accusing it of illegally monopolizing nan smartphone market, saying nan lawsuit would person a judge redesign its celebrated iPhone.

The Justice Department, 19 states and Washington, D.C., impeach Apple of an forbidden monopoly connected smartphones maintained by imposing contractual restrictions on, and withholding captious entree from, developers.

In a mobility revenge successful national tribunal successful Newark, New Jersey, Apple based on that putting reasonable limitations connected third-party developers’ entree to its exertion did not magnitude to anti-competitive behavior, and forcing it to stock exertion pinch competitors would chill innovation.

“Endorsing specified a mentation would require courts to oversee product-design and argumentation choices successful move method markets,” Apple said.

The suit revenge successful March takes purpose astatine Apple’s restrictions and fees connected app developers, and method roadblocks to third-party devices and services — specified arsenic smart watches, integer wallets and messaging services — that would compete pinch its own.

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The Justice Department says that by hampering interoperability betwixt nan iPhone and third-party apps and devices, Apple locks users into its ain products and harms title successful nan market.

But Apple based on that nan suit fails to raise immoderate grounds that its practices harm title aliases consumers, who it says plausibly move to a competitor if they dislike what iPhone features.

U.S. District Judge Julien Neals, who isoverseeing nan case, will person a consequence from nan authorities and a reply from Apple earlier deciding nan mobility later this year.

The lawsuit is 1 of 5 blockbuster monopoly cases pending against Big Tech companies.

Facebook genitor Meta Platforms META.O and Amazon.com AMZN.O are facing lawsuits by antitrust enforcers alleging they illegally support monopolies, and Alphabet’s GOOGL.O Google is facing 2 specified lawsuits.

(Reporting by Jody Godoy successful New YorkEditing by Chris Reese and Leslie Adler)