Apple has asked the New Hampshire federal court to dismiss a lawsuit filed against it. The company claims the developer of the app Coronavirus Reporter is simply “cobbling together” allegations from other antitrust cases against the company.
The developers of the app Coronavirus Reporter state that Apple rejected their app from being published on the App Store “for no good reason. A new filing by Apple which was made public on Tuesday is 26 page long and it argues that the app Coronavirus Reporter app’s lawsuit is basically a revised version of the original filing in January. The app developers have filed a $800 million lawsuit against the iPhone maker.
No public comments from Apple or the developers
“Anticompetitive harm is a pleading requirement for Section 1 and Section 2 claims,” said Apple in its filing. “Plausible allegations of anticompetitive harm are critical at the pleading stage because antitrust law protects competition, not competitors.”
Outside of the filing, Apple has not made a single comment on the lawsuit. Also, the developer of the app Coronavirus Reporter has not made any public comments either. Both the company and the developer appear to be focusing completely on the trial and not on making public statements for PR reasons.
The app Coronavirus Report was reportedly first submitted to Apple’s App Store in March 2020. The main goals of the app was to “capture and obtain critical biostatistical and epidemiological data as it happened.” Apple says that it had rejected the app because it was not a verifiable and trusted healthcare company.
“Anticompetitive harm is a pleading requirement for Section 1 and Section 2 claims,” read Apple’s filing. “Plausible allegations of anticompetitive harm are critical at the pleading stage because antitrust law protects competition, not competitors.”
“Coronavirus Reporter has only pleaded a harm to its business — an injury to itself, not an anticompetitive injury to the market,” adds Apple. “This defect is fundamental, and warrants dismissal of all Section 1 and 2 claims.”A
