By Mike Scarcella
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Alphabet’s Google said it has urged the U.S. Supreme Court to halt key parts of a judge’s order that would force major changes to its app store Play, as it prepares to appeal a decision in a lawsuit brought by “Fortnite” maker Epic Games.
Google called the judge’s order unprecedented, and said it would cause reputational harm and put the company at a competitive disadvantage if allowed to take effect, according to a filing provided late on Wednesday by Google, which said it had submitted it to the court.
The injunction issued by a federal judge last year in California requires Google to allow users to download rival app stores within its Play store and make Play’s app catalog available to competitors. It also compels Google to allow developers to include external links in apps, enabling users to bypass Google’s billing system.
Google in its filing to the Supreme Court said that the changes will have enormous consequences for more than 100 million U.S. Android users and 500,000 developers. It asked the court to decide by October 17 whether to put the order on hold.
Google said it plans to file its appeal to the Supreme Court by October 27, which could allow the justices to take up the case during its nine-month term that begins on October 6.
(Reporting by Mike Scarcella; additional reporting by Andrew Chung; editing by Will Dunham)
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