Apple wants Tim Cook and Tim Sweeney to testify in Epic lawsuit

Apple and Epic have put together their lists of potential witnesses for Epic Games’ lawsuit for allegedly anti-competitive practices on the App Store, and that’s almost the leadership of both companies – and beyond. TechCrunch and MacRumors report that Apple wants its CEO Tim Cook, senior vice president of software Craig Federighi and former marketing manager Phil Schiller to testify in this case. Epic executives Tim Sweeney and Mark Rein are also reportedly among those called to testify, as are third-party cookies from Facebook, Microsoft and NVIDIA, among others.

Epic wants Tim Sweeney and other staff to testify with Apple’s Eddy Cue and former iOS software chief Scott Forstall.

In a statement, Apple argued that its executives would illustrate the “very positive impact” of the App Store and show that Epic had violated its agreement solely for the sake of profit. It bypassed security features in such a way that it would have led to less competition, not more, Apple said. Epic, meanwhile, said collective opposition to Apple’s policies had “grown stronger” and would show the need for more competition.

The trial is set to begin on May 3 and you will be able to see leaders testify in person despite the pandemic – Judge Yvonne Gonzalez has argued that the bench trial (i.e. without a jury) is important enough for witnesses appear in court.

There is no guarantee that either party will get all the witnesses they want. If even some of them do appear, however, you can expect significant (even shocking) testimony during the trial. At least it shows that Apple and Epic have a clear belief that their executives will survive scrutiny.