On March 21, Patently Apple posted a report titled "Watch the full news conference regarding U.S. Attorney General's announcement of their Antitrust case against Apple." Our follow-up report in May was titled "Apple has asked a U.S. Judge to dismiss the DOJ's Lawsuit that is based on a theory of antitrust liability that no court recognizes."

Today, Apple Inc. stated that the US government’s antitrust lawsuit accusing the tech giant of monopolizing the smartphone market “bears no relation to reality” and should be tossed out by a federal judge.

In a court filing, Apple denied allegations that it is a monopolist and said it is not required to give software developers more access to iPhones than they currently have. The company has set the terms for access to its own platform and technologies, Apple argued in its filing, but hasn’t interfered or restricted third parties from dealing with its smartphone rivals. Those actions can’t be challenged under US antitrust law, the company said.

“Apple faces robust competition from other smartphone manufacturers around the world, including Google and Samsung,” company lawyers argued Thursday in federal court in Newark, New Jersey.

The complaint also fails to demonstrate that Apple’s conduct has harmed consumers — a key component of antitrust cases, the company said.

“It is implausible to claim, as the government does, that Apple has deterred any customers from switching to Google or Samsung because of its policies with respect to ‘super apps,’ cloud gaming, smartwatches, or anything else,” according to the filing.

US District Judge Julien Neals, a Biden appointee who joined the bench in 2021, is likely to hold a hearing on Apple’s request to dismiss the case later this year. For more on this, read the full Bloomberg report.