May 5 (Reuters) - Apple ( AAPL ) should return hundreds of

millions of dollars to developers who claim the iPhone maker

defied a U.S. judge's order governing its lucrative App Store,

causing them to pay inflated commissions for more than a year, a

new lawsuit said.

App developer Pure Sweat Basketball filed the proposed class

action on Friday in the Oakland, California, federal court,

after a judge ruled last week that Apple ( AAPL ) defied her order in a

lawsuit brought by "Fortnite" maker Epic Games.

The 2021 injunction in that lawsuit was supposed to give

developers more freedom to steer consumers outside Apple's ( AAPL ) App

Store for potentially cheaper purchases. Pure Sweat's lawsuit

was filed on behalf of as many as 100,000 developers.

The lawsuit estimated that Apple's ( AAPL ) conduct cost them

"hundreds of millions or even billions" of dollars in damages.

"Apple ( AAPL ) should be made to disgorge its wrongful profit, and

developers are entitled to be made whole," the complaint said.

Apple ( AAPL ) did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In a statement, Steve Berman, a lead attorney for Pure

Sweat, said they were focused on "obtaining justice" against

Apple ( AAPL ).

The lawsuit follows U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez

Rogers' April 30 ruling that said Apple ( AAPL ) willfully violated her

injunction in the Epic Games case, including by charging

developers a new 27% fee when Apple ( AAPL ) customers complete an app

purchase outside the App Store. The injunction became effective

in January 2024.

Gonzalez Rogers referred Apple ( AAPL ) and one of its executives to

federal prosecutors for a possible criminal contempt

investigation.

Apple ( AAPL ) denied violating Rogers' order, and the company on

Monday filed its notice of appeal.

Pure Sweat said Apple ( AAPL ) blocked the developer in 2023 from

publishing an app for education videos and workouts that

contained links to purchase content outside of the app.

"Apple ( AAPL ) schemed to maintain the status quo, as if no

Injunction had entered, retaining its billion dollar in-app

payments revenue stream while depriving developers of the

intended fruits of the Injunction," the lawsuit said.

Apple ( AAPL ) faces other consumer and government lawsuits

challenging its business practices. In one such case, Hagens

Berman is representing consumers accusing Apple ( AAPL ) of illegally

monopolizing the smartphone market.

The case is Pure Sweat Basketball Inc v. Apple Inc ( AAPL ), U.S.

District Court for the Northern District of California, No.

4:25-cv-03858.

For plaintiff: Steve Berman of Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro;

and Eamon Kelly of Sperling Kenny Nachwalter

For Apple ( AAPL ): No appearance yet

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class action