Federal Court of Justice is apparently not on Apple's side

Apple apparently has little chance of the Federal Court of Justice overturning the classification of the iPhone manufacturer as an “undertaking with overriding importance for competition across markets”. This designation, which at first glance sounds flattering and was awarded by the Federal Cartel Office, could have negative consequences for Apple. The regulators can use it to impose measures to curb a company's market power.

On Tuesday, Apple's lawsuit against the cartel office was heard by the Federal Court of Justice. As reported by the financial news agency Reuters, the presiding judge, Wolfgang Kirchhoff, stated in the three-hour hearing that an overall assessment indicates that Apple has market-wide significance.

However, a verdict has not yet been announced. The federal judges saw a need for further consultation.

Appeal to EU judges? Not a chance!

According to the report, Apple's lawyers speculated that the German judges would first consult the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg before issuing a ruling. They believe that German law is not EU-compliant. However, Kirchhoff made it clear from the outset that the court saw no basis for this.

In April 2023, the Cartel Office classified Apple accordingly. The company is active in many interconnected markets and plays a significant role in third parties' access to procurement and sales markets, it said in justification. In addition to Apple, Google's parent company Alphabet, Meta (Facebook), Amazon and Microsoft were also classified accordingly.

Apple threatened with measures

Should the Federal Cartel Office prevail, Apple could, for example, face bans in the future on giving preference to its offers on its website over those of competitors, or making the use of its own offer dependent on the use of another of its own offers.

(mki)