“Fortnite” maker Epic Games has told a U.S. judge that Apple (AAPL.O) “completely overreached” in demanding that it pay a legal tab of more than $73 million in the hotly contested antitrust clash between the two companies.
Epic urged U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in a court filing on Friday to deny Apple’s request for legal fees and costs in Epic’s lawsuit challenging Apple’s controls over transactions within iOS applications and how apps are distributed to consumers.
The U.S. Supreme Court last month declined appeals from both companies in the case, leaving in place a decision that rejected most of Epic's lawsuit but required Apple to make some changes in its lucrative App Store.
Epic declined to comment. A representative for Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Epic and Apple both tapped expensive, high-powered law firms for the case, including Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher and Weil, Gotshal & Manges for Apple and Cravath, Swaine & Moore for Epic.
Epic’s main argument for countering Apple’s fee bid is that prevailing defendants are not entitled to recover attorney compensation for successfully defending against antitrust claims.
In its court filing, Epic called Apple’s demand for $73.4 million in fees “striking.” It said at most the iPhone maker was entitled to a “far narrower” amount tied to Epic’s breach of Apple’s developer agreement.
Epic did not contest the breach-of-contract claim, and it was not a litigated issue, the Cary, North Carolina-based company said in its filing.
The case is Epic Games v Apple, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, No. 4:20-cv-05640-YGR.
For Epic: Yonatan Even of Cravath, Swaine & Moore
For Apple: Mark Perry of Weil, Gotshal & Manges
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