Apple filed an appeal in the Consumer v. Apple Monopoly Case, reaching the highest court
六月清晨搅
发表于 2024-7-4 20:23:01
222
0
0
On July 4th, a reporter from First Financial News learned from insiders that Apple has appealed to the Supreme People's Court after the first instance verdict of China's first anti-monopoly lawsuit initiated by consumers against the "Apple Tax" was announced.
In its appeal request, Apple hopes that the Supreme People's Court can modify some of the wording in the judgment, mainly including four points.
Firstly, Apple requests that the first instance judgment be revoked in accordance with the law, stating that the respondent (consumer who purchases within the application) may have suffered losses due to the unfair and high priced behavior being sued, and that they have the right to file a lawsuit for the alleged unfair and high priced commission charged by the appellant to the application developer. Secondly, revoke the determination that the plaintiff's claim for monopolistic behavior in this case requires the defendant Apple Company to assume corresponding responsibilities in accordance with legal provisions, and determine that Apple Company is not a qualified defendant in this case.
Thirdly, Apple requests the revocation of the determination in the first instance judgment that "the relevant commodity market in this case should be defined as a 'smart terminal application trading platform under the iOS system'" in accordance with the law, and to change the definition of the relevant commodity market in this case to include application transactions on all platforms, but not limited to application transactions on the Chinese Apple App Store. Fourthly, the determination in the first instance judgment that "Apple clearly has a dominant market position in the market" should be revoked in accordance with the law, and it should be determined that Apple does not have a dominant market position in the correctly defined relevant market.
In May of this year, the Shanghai Intellectual Property Court announced the first instance verdict of China's first consumer lawsuit against Apple for monopoly. The court found that Apple had a dominant market position in the Chinese software market, but did not abuse that position and rejected the plaintiff's lawsuit. The plaintiff in this case, Ms. Jin, accused Apple of abusing its market position by charging a 30% in app purchase commission and restricting payment methods.
However, from Apple's appeal request, it can be seen that the company still hopes that the Supreme Court will remove the mention of Apple's "dominant position" in the lower court judgment and oppose the wording implying "unfair pricing" in the judgment.
The reporter reviewed the relevant content in the first instance judgment, regarding Apple's third and fourth appeal requests, namely how to define the relevant market and whether the defendant Apple has a dominant market position. The Shanghai Intellectual Property Court stated that Apple is the main operator of the intelligent terminal application trading platform under the iOS system in regions other than Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan in the People's Republic of China. Although Apple International Distribution Company also participates in platform and consumer services, Apple and Apple International Distribution Company are affiliated companies, and other operators cannot enter the platform. Therefore, Apple obviously has a dominant market position in this market.
As for whether consumers have the right to sue for unfair and high priced behavior, the Shanghai Intellectual Property Court believes that, in terms of the plaintiff's claim of unfair and high priced behavior, although the defendant Apple is charging commissions to developers, if the plaintiff's claim of unfair and high priced behavior is successful, considering that platform commissions are also one of the costs for developers to operate applications, developers may adopt the method of increasing the selling price to consumers in order to transfer the high price borne by the platform, in order to maximize their interests. Therefore, the interests of consumers may be indirectly harmed by the platform's unfair and high priced behavior, and thus become the ultimate bearers of monopoly profits. Therefore, as a consumer, the plaintiff may suffer losses due to the unfair and high priced behavior being sued, and they have the right to file a lawsuit regarding this behavior.
In addition, regarding the issue of "qualified defendants" mentioned in Apple's appeal request, the Shanghai Intellectual Property Court believes that the services and content provided by Apple International Distribution Company in the Apple App Store, as well as the copyright of the Apple App Store, belong to the defendant Apple Company. Apple Company is also responsible for handling complaints arising from the operation of the platform. The defendant Apple Inc. participated in the operation and management of the Apple App Store, and the plaintiff filed a lawsuit against the defendant Apple Inc. for monopolistic behavior in this case, which requires the defendant Apple Inc. to bear corresponding responsibilities and complies with legal provisions.
An analysis suggests that Apple's unusual attempt to change the wording of an already favorable ruling reflects Apple's delicate position in China. China is not only the largest international market for apples, but also the largest production base for apples. As global regulatory agencies closely scrutinize tech giants, court rulings describing Apple's "dominant position" may be cited in future lawsuits or cases.
After the first instance verdict, Wang Qiongfei, the founding partner of Zhejiang Kenting Law Firm, represented by the plaintiff (Jin), told reporters that he will continue to appeal to the Supreme People's Court. The core of the appeal is still the issue of high apple tax rates and forced tying.
CandyLake.com 系信息发布平台,仅提供信息存储空间服务。
声明:该文观点仅代表作者本人,本文不代表CandyLake.com立场,且不构成建议,请谨慎对待。
声明:该文观点仅代表作者本人,本文不代表CandyLake.com立场,且不构成建议,请谨慎对待。
猜你喜欢
- For the first time in history! Apple announces significant adjustments
- For the first time in history! Apple undergoes significant adjustments!
- Latest news! Apple ID will be renamed
- Up to 14% of Apple's current iPhones are reportedly produced in India
- Apples weigh heavily! From 8pm on May 20th to May 28th, there will be a significant price reduction for iPhone 15 Pro Max, with a discount of 2050 yuan!
- Apple Vision Pro is released in China today. The store staff said that the trial appointment has been scheduled for early July
- Apple makes concessions and approves Epic Games game store entry into the European market
- Apple patent explores foldable screen angle sensor design for future use on iPhone/iPad/Mac
- Apple iPhone 16 officially goes on sale, scalpers claim to charge up to 700-800 yuan for Pro Max this year
- Multiple factors constrain the landing of AI systems, making it difficult for Apple's "new iPhone moment" to arrive
-
苹果知名分析师郭明錤周四(10月31日)在社交媒体上发文表示,苹果明年可能会减少对芯片制造商博通Wi-Fi芯片的依赖,并推出自己的处理器。 郭明錤在社交媒体平台X上写道,“在2025年下半年的新产品(例如iPh ...
- uturn
- 昨天 14:42
- 支持
- 反对
- 回复
- 收藏
-
10月30日,小鹏汽车生态企业小鹏汇天宣布,旗下分体式飞行汽车“陆地航母”即将亮相2024中国航展,11月12日将在中国航展第二展区(斗门莲洲)进行全球首次公开飞行,同时“陆地航母”也将在珠海国际航展中心8号 ...
- yxtianyouyou
- 前天 11:43
- 支持
- 反对
- 回复
- 收藏
-
交易所监管文件显示,当地时间11月1日,亚马逊创始人杰夫·贝索斯拟出售约1635万股亚马逊股票,预计套现约30.5亿美元。今年7月,贝索斯已申请额外出售约2500万股亚马逊股票,按当时股价计算可套现约50亿美元。 ...
- blueskybb
- 13 小时前
- 支持
- 反对
- 回复
- 收藏
-
近日,凯撒海湾目的地(山东)运营管理有限责任公司(简称“凯撒海湾”)与携程旅悦集团签署战略合作协议,双方将围绕“海上目的地运营”、“旅游产品与服务创新”、“研学旅行”、“日韩及海外旅游市场开拓”等 ...
- llyyy2008
- 11 小时前
- 支持
- 反对
- 回复
- 收藏