United Kingdom: Issued ruling by Competition Appeal Tribunal in favour of Apple against Competition and Markets Authority

On 31 March 2023, the UK Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) released a judgement ruling in favour of Apple in a review of the decision by the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to open an investigation into Apple and Google’s “effective duopoly” over mobile browser and cloud gaming services through app stores. The CAT ruled that the CMA’s investigation was beyond the CMA's powers ("ultra vires") given it was announced outside the time limit of 12 months after a market report was published, as stipulated in Section 131 of the 2002 Enterprise Act. The CMA first published a market study on mobile ecosystems on 15 June 2021 and issued a final report on 10 June 2022. On 22 November 2022, the CMA announced its formal investigation into Apple and Google’s possible restrictions on competition in the browser and gaming market through their app stores. The CMA has stated that it would appeal the CAT's decision.