EU General Court dismisses Apple's challenge to its DMA gatekeeper status

The General Court dismissed all three actions brought by Apple on July 8, in Joined Cases T-1079/23, T-1080/23 and T-214/24. The European Commission designated Apple a gatekeeper under the Digital Markets Act on 5 September 2023, covering the App Store, iOS and Safari. Apple argued that its five app stores were separate services and that only the iOS App Store met the designation thresholds. The court held that all five share one purpose, connecting developers with users, so they count as a single core platform service. It ruled the iMessage complaints inadmissible, because the Commission decided in February 2024 not to designate that service. Apple may appeal on points of law. Reported by Leah Talyansky at JURIST.