A federal judge has denied Apple’s attempt to join the ongoing antitrust case against Google as the trial moves into its remedy phase. U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta ruled on Monday that Apple’s request came too late in the proceedings.
The U.S. government sued Google in 2020, alleging it monopolized the search engine market. In August 2024, Judge Mehta ruled that Google indeed held an illegal monopoly. The case is now entering the remedy phase to determine how to address Google’s market dominance.
Apple sought to intervene to protect its lucrative deal with Google. The tech giant receives billions of dollars annually from Google to make it the default search engine on Apple devices. In 2021 alone, this deal was worth $26.3 billion to Apple.
Judge Mehta rejected Apple’s request for several reasons:
- Apple filed its motion in December 2024, which the judge deemed too late given the case’s October 2020 start.
- Allowing Apple to join could disrupt the court’s schedule and extend the proceedings.
- Granting Apple’s request might encourage other companies with Google deals to seek involvement.
While denying full intervention, Judge Mehta will allow Apple to file briefs as a “friend of the court” (amicus curiae). This means Apple can still present its views for consideration during the remedy phase.
The remedy trial is set to conclude by August 2025. The court will decide on appropriate measures to address Google’s monopoly, which could impact Google’s deals with companies like Apple.
As of now, Apple, Google, and the Justice Department have not commented on this latest development.
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