Following the reversal of her own class action certification by U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in a case alleging that Apple holds a monopoly over the iPhone app market, the situation has been revived today. Here are the specifics.
### A Brief Overview
In 2022, after a complex series of motions, appeals, and the merging of overlapping antitrust claims, the case In re Apple iPhone Antitrust Litigation was assigned to U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers.
At first, she chose not to certify it as a class action. Two years later, she changed her mind, approving it under a more limited scope, covering “only Apple account holders who spent $10 or more on app or in-app content,” as noted by Reuters.
Last October, after Apple contested the plaintiffs’ damages model, Judge Rogers once again reversed her ruling and decertified the class action, determining that the plaintiffs did not provide a model “capable of reliably showing classwide injury and damages in one stroke.”
At that point, the plaintiffs’ legal team indicated they would evaluate their next actions. Shortly thereafter, they submitted a petition requesting permission to appeal, which leads us to the current situation.
### Antitrust Case Revived
As reported by Reuters, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals approved the plaintiffs’ petition for permission to appeal.
In practical terms, this indicates that the appeals court will now assess Judge Rogers’ decision to decertify the class action, which could either restore the lawsuit as a class action, return it to her for additional scrutiny, or affirm her ruling.
According to today’s ruling, the appeal will advance under Rule 23(f), meaning the Ninth Circuit will only consider the class certification ruling (not the underlying antitrust claims against Apple). The plaintiffs now have 14 days to formally advance the appeal.
In a statement to Reuters, Mark Rifkin, an attorney representing the plaintiffs, expressed that they “look forward to briefing and arguing the merits of the appeal in the Ninth Circuit.” Conversely, Apple did not respond to Reuters’ request for a statement.
