Google has requested a California federal judge to pause his sweeping court order that requires the company to open its app store, Play, to greater competition.
In a court filing on Friday night, Google argued that U.S. District Judge James Donato’s injunction order, set to take 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 (GOOGL.O), asked Donato to stay the order while it pursues an appeal. The judge issued the injunction on Oct. 7 in a case brought by Epic Games, the maker of “Fortnite.”
Epic successfully convinced a federal jury last year that Google illegally monopolizes how consumers download apps on Android devices and how they pay for in-app transactions.
Donato’s order requires Google to allow users to download competing third-party Android app platforms or stores. It prohibits Google from blocking the use of competing in-app payment methods.
Additionally, the order bars Google from making payments to device makers for preinstalling its app store and from sharing revenue generated from the Play store with other app distributors.
If Donato denies Google’s request to put the injunction on hold, the company can ask the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco to intervene while it appeals the jury’s underlying antitrust verdict.
Google filed its notice of appeal to the 9th Circuit on Thursday. The appeals court will ultimately weigh and rule on Google’s challenge to Donato’s order.
