KARLSRUHE, Germany (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)