Google has asked a California federal judge to halt its sweeping court order requiring it to open its Play app store to greater competition.
In a court filing Friday night, Google said U.S. District Judge James Donato’s injunction, effective Nov. 1, would harm the company and pose “serious risks to safety, security and privacy for the Android ecosystem.”
The tech giant, a unit of Alphabet, asked Donato to stay the order while pursuing an appeal.
The judge issued the injunction on October 7 in a case brought by “Fortnite” maker Epic Games, which convinced a federal jury last year that Google was illegally monopolizing how consumers download apps on Android devices and how they pay for in-app transactions.
The judge’s order said Google must allow users to download competing third-party Android app stores or platforms and can no longer prohibit the use of competing in-app payment methods. It also prohibits Google from paying device manufacturers to pre-install its app store and sharing revenue generated from the Play store with other app distributors.
If Donato denies Google’s request to halt the ban, the company could ask the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to do so while appealing the jury’s underlying antitrust ruling. jury.
Google filed a notice of appeal with the 9th Circuit on Thursday. The Court of Final Appeals is expected to weigh in and rule on Google’s challenge to Donato’s order.
