Epic v. Google: Setting The Bar For Affirmative Antitrust Remedies In The Digital Age

The July 2025 decision by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Epic Games v. Google marks a landmark development in the ongoing evolution of antitrust remedies for unilateral conduct in the technology sector.¹The court's willingness to affirm not just prohibitory, but also mandatory, forward-looking injunctions'requiring Google to take affirmative steps to open its Android app ecosystem to competition'signals a vigorous approach to restoring competition in digital platforms. This post examines the key remedies upheld by the Ninth Circuit and analyzes the broader legal significance of the Ninth Circuit's holdings for antitrust enforcement in the technology sector.

Background

• In 2020, Epic Games filed parallel suits against both Apple and Google after they each removed Fortnite from their app stores following Epic's attempt to bypass their respective bans on in-app payment systems and the associated 30% commission by embedding alternative payment code in Fortnite.²
• The Apple case proceeded to a bench trial before Judge Gonzalez Rogers in the Northern District of California, while the Google case was consolidated with other related antitrust claims³and proceeded to a jury trial before Judge James Donato in the same district.
• In Apple, the district court found that Apple did not violate federal antitrust laws but did violate California's Unfair Competition Law due to its anti-steering provisions, which restricted developers from informing users about alternative payment options.⁴The court issued a permanent injunction prohibiting enforcement of Apple's anti-steering rules in September 2021, which the Ninth Circuit largely affirmed in April 2023.⁵
• In Google, the jury returned a unanimous verdict in favor of Epic, finding that Google engaged in exclusionary conduct in violation of antitrust laws due to (1) its restrictions on app distribution through the Play Store and (2) its tying of in-app payments to Google Play Billing. Following the December 2023 jury verdict, the district court issued a permanent injunction in October 2024,⁶which the Ninth Circuit affirmed in July 2025.

Key Remedies Affirmed by the Ninth Circuit in Epic v. Google

The permanent injunction affirmed by the Ninth Circuit contains numerous provisions aimed at fostering competition in the Android app ecosystem. Beyond the significant effects on the market for apps on Android devices, these remedies are legally significant in their scope: rather than merely prohibiting Google from continuing to engage in the conduct that the jury found to be anticompetitive, the injunction also includes a range of mandatory, affirmative provisions designed to actively restore competition and address the entrenched network effects and barriers to entry that Google's conduct had created or enhanced.

• Prohibition of Anticompetitive Arrangements: The injunction bars Google from continuing in certain conduct that was found to be anticompetitive by the...