Photo by Gabriele Lässer on Unsplash [Download]

Google sounds like Apple in new court filing: "any harm Epic has suffered is not irreparable and is of its own making"

It would be an exaggeration to say that Google is stalling, but Epic is naturally more interested in getting its day in court at the earliest opportunity.

Even Epic realistically knows that its antitrust litigation against Google is going to take longer than its case against Apple the same district.Apple was deemed related to a couple of other cases, especially the old Pepper case, pending before Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers on the other side of the Bay Bridge.In the Pepper case, the Supreme Court had to resolve the question of antitrust standing before the case could even go to trial.

Google will bring a motion to dismiss, which would be the earliest procedural stage at which the court could reject Epic's complaint.

Epic argues that discovery should be stayed in that situation only if, as the same district court held in another case

Litig.) in 1994, a defendant makes a strong showing of a presently deficient complaint and, therefore, is likely to succeed on a motion to dismiss.

It's hard to imagine the complaint would be thrown out, and even a dismissal without prejudice doesn't appear likely at this stage.

Google has not put forward an alternative schedule and merely complains that Epic's lawyers made this proposal without making enough of an effort to discuss the overall schedule with Google.

Epic's analysis may very well have shown that it's going to be even harder to persuade the court of the merits of its case against Google.

Original article