Apple asks US judge to toss antitrust lawsuit

By Jody Godoy

(Reuters) -Apple on Thursday asked a U.S. judge to dismiss a lawsuit by federal and state antitrust regulators accusing it of illegally monopolizing the smartphone market, saying the case would have a judge redesign its popular iPhone.

The Justice Department, 19 states and Washington, D.C., accuse Apple of an illegal monopoly on smartphones maintained by imposing contractual restrictions on, and withholding critical access from, developers.

In a motion filed in federal court in Newark, New Jersey, Apple argued that putting reasonable limitations on third-party developers' access to its technology did not amount to anti-competitive behavior, and forcing it to share technology with competitors would chill innovation.

"Endorsing such a theory would require courts to oversee product-design and policy choices in dynamic technical markets," Apple said.

The lawsuit filed in March takes aim at Apple's restrictions and fees on app developers, and technical roadblocks to third-party devices and services -- such as smart watches, digital wallets and messaging services -- that would compete with its own.

The Justice Department says that by hampering interoperability between the iPhone and third-party apps and devices, Apple locks users into its own products and harms competition in the market.

But Apple argued that the lawsuit fails to raise any evidence that its practices harm competition or consumers, who it says plausibly switch to a competitor if they dislike what iPhone features.

U.S. District Judge Julien Neals, who is overseeing the case, will receive a response from the government and a reply from Apple before deciding the motion later this year.

The case is one of five blockbuster monopoly cases pending against Big Tech companies.

Facebook parent Meta Platforms and Amazon.com are facing lawsuits by antitrust enforcers alleging they illegally maintain monopolies, and Alphabet's Google is facing two such lawsuits.

(Reporting by Jody Godoy in New YorkEditing by Chris Reese and Leslie Adler)