April 13 (Reuters) - IPhone maker Apple ( AAPL ) on

Friday denied violating a court order governing its App Store

and urged a California federal judge to reject a request by

"Fortnite" developer Epic Games to hold it in contempt.

Apple ( AAPL ) made the arguments in a filing to U.S. District Judge

Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in Oakland, who presided over Epic's

lawsuit in 2020 accusing Apple ( AAPL ) of violating antitrust law with

its tight controls over how consumers download apps and pay for

transactions within them.

The Apple ( AAPL ) filing criticized what it called an attempt by

Epic to make Apple's ( AAPL ) "tools and technologies available to

developers for free."

Epic, it said, wanted the court "to micromanage Apple's ( AAPL )

business operations in a way that would increase Epic's

profitability."

Epic declined to comment. Apple ( AAPL ) did not immediately respond

to a request for comment about the dispute, part of a long fight

between the two companies.

Epic largely lost its case against Apple ( AAPL ), but Rogers in 2021

ordered Apple ( AAPL ) to give developers greater freedom to guide app

users to alternative payment methods for digital goods.

The U.S. Supreme Court in January declined to hear

Apple's ( AAPL ) appeal of the injunction order.

Epic said in a court filing last month that Cupertino,

California-based Apple ( AAPL ) was in "blatant violation" of the court's

injunction. It pointed to Apple's ( AAPL ) imposition of a 27% fee on

developers for some purchases, which the video game maker said

makes links for alternative payment options "commercially

unusable."

Epic also alleged Apple ( AAPL ) barred some apps from informing

users about other ways to pay for goods.

Meta Platforms ( META ), Microsoft ( MSFT ), Elon Musk's X

and Match Group ( MTCH ) last month echoed Epic's arguments,

telling Rogers that Apple ( AAPL ) was in "clear violation" of the

court's order.

In a similar case that Epic brought against Alphabet's

Google, a judge in San Francisco is expected this year

to issue a separate injunction affecting the Google Play Store.

The case is Epic Games Inc v Apple Inc ( AAPL ), U.S. District Court,

Northern District of California, No. 20-05640.