Google wants US judge's app store ruling put on hold

By Mike Scarcella

(Reuters) -Google has asked a California federal judge to pause his sweeping court order requiring it to open up its app store Play to greater competition.

In a court filing on Friday night, Google said U.S. District Judge James Donato’s injunction order, which goes into effect on Nov. 1, would harm the company and introduce "serious safety, security, and privacy risks into the Android ecosystem."

The tech giant, a unit of Alphabet, asked Donato to stay the order while it pursues an appeal.

The judge issued the injunction on Oct. 7 in a case brought by “Fortnite” maker Epic Games, which persuaded a federal jury last year that Google was illegally monopolizing how consumers download apps on Android devices and how they pay for in-app transactions.

The judge's order said Google must allow users within Play to download competing third-party Android app platforms or stores and can no longer prohibit the use of competing in-app payment methods. It also bars Google from making payments to device makers to preinstall its app store and from sharing revenue generated from the Play store with other app distributors.

If Donato denies Google's bid to put the injunction on hold, the company can ask the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to do so while it appeals the jury's underlying antitrust verdict.

Google filed its notice of appeal to the 9th Circuit on Thursday. The appeals court ultimately would be expected to weigh and rule on Google's challenge to Donato's order.

(Reporting by Mike ScarcellaEditing by William Maclean and Frances Kerry)