KARLSRUHE, Germany, Jan 28 (Reuters) - German federal

judges indicated on Tuesday that they could back the country's

antitrust regulator in a legal battle with Apple ( AAPL ),

following over three hours of deliberations over whether the

U.S. tech giant should be subject to additional controls.

The German cartel office said in April 2023 it considered

Apple ( AAPL ) a "company of paramount cross-market significance for

competition", opening the door to possible measures curbing its

dominance.

Wolfgang Kirchhoff, presiding judge on the panel assessing

Apple's ( AAPL ) appeal against the designation, said an overall

assessment had shown it could be true that Apple ( AAPL ) has such

significance across markets.

However, the Federal Court of Justice held off on handing

down a ruling on Tuesday, calling for more time to deliberate.

The legal team representing Apple ( AAPL ) urgently called on the

court to consult with the European Court of Justice in

Luxembourg before taking a decision, arguing that German law may

not be in line with EU law on the issue.

Kirchhoff had said in his opening comments that the judges

saw no grounds for a referral to the EU court.

If confirmed, Apple ( AAPL ) would join Google parent Alphabet

and Facebook owner Meta as companies subject

to extra controls in Germany over their "paramount cross-market

significance".

(Reporting by Ursula Knapp, writing by Rachel More, editing by

Thomas Seythal)