Epic argues it breached contract because Apple's terms are 'unlawful'

A hot potato: Epic Games is continuing to keep antitrust issues and monopolistic behavior front and center in its ongoing legal feud with Apple. The latest argument comes in a reply memo to Apple's countersuit against Epic's breach of contract.

On Saturday, Epic's attorneys fired off a rebuttal against Apple's claims of breach of contract, saying, among other things, that Epic broke terms of contractual obligation because those terms were "unlawful."

"When Epic took steps to allow consumers on iOS devices to make those payments directly, it breached some of the contractual restrictions that Apple imposes on iOS developers," the memo reads. "Epic did so because those contractual restrictions are unlawful."

Epic's lawyers contend that the company took a stand to show that competition could exist within Apple's walled garden and "that customers would welcome and benefit from it." In other words, Apple has no legal right to claim damages or allege "theft" on a product that it does not own. It further contends that it took action without Apple's knowledge because it knew that Apple would use monopolistic behavior to prevent that competition from occurring.

Epic Versus Apple - Epic Co... by Mike Wuerthele

"Apple has no right to the fruits of Epic's labor, other than the rights arising under a contract. Epic chose to take a stand against Apple's monopoly to illustrate that competition could exist on iOS, and that consumers would welcome and benefit from it. Epic did so without advance notice to Apple because Apple would otherwise have used its monopoly control to prevent that competition from happening."

Epic says that it did what it did to show that competition can exist in the iOS ecosystem and that Apple's restrictive policies are nothing other than "tools" that the tech giant uses to enforce its monopoly. Epic's lawyers are so confident in their arguments that they said Epic Games has no problems paying up if they cannot prove that Apple acting in an anticompetitive manner.

"The parties will litigate these points in the coming months, and Epic has conceded that if it fails on its antitrust claims, Epic will be responsible for any sums owed to Apple under the License Agreement," the legal team said.

A hearing is scheduled for November 10 in US District Court in Oakland, California.