Apple Wins First Round in iCloud Monopoly Antitrust Litigation

Apple Inc. notched a win for now against claims the tech giant illegally conditioned the sale of its mobile devices to purchases of its iCloud storage platform after a federal judge ruled the plaintiffs failed to plausibly allege an unlawful tying agreement.

Judge Eumi K. Lee of the US District Court for the Northern District of California in a Feb. 28 order partially granted Apple’s motion to dismiss, saying no Apple device user is required to use or purchase iCloud or any other cloud storage service. She also said the plaintiffs failed to plausibly allege a claim under California’s Unfair ...