(Reuters) - Apple ( AAPL ) on Monday lodged an appeal to challenge a U.S. judge's ruling that ordered the tech company to immediately open its lucrative App Store to more competition.

Apple ( AAPL ) in a court notice said it will ask the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to review the April 30 ruling, which found the company in contempt of an earlier order in a 2020 antitrust lawsuit brought by Epic Games.

U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers said in her decision that Apple ( AAPL ) willfully failed to comply with a 2021 injunction designed to allow developers to more easily steer consumers to potentially cheaper non-Apple ( AAPL ) payment options.

Gonzalez Rogers also referred Apple ( AAPL ) and one of its executives to federal prosecutors for a possible criminal contempt investigation. She refused to put her order on hold, accusing Apple ( AAPL ) of delaying and purposefully misleading the court.

"Apple ( AAPL ) sought to maintain a revenue stream worth billions in direct defiance of this court's injunction," Gonzalez Rogers said.

Apple ( AAPL ) had denied violating terms of the court's order.

Apple ( AAPL ) and Epic Games did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Apple's ( AAPL ) appeal notice did include its planned legal arguments.

The lawsuit by Epic Games, the maker of online video game Fortnite, aimed to loosen Apple's ( AAPL ) grip over transactions in applications that use its iOS operating system and how apps are distributed to consumers.

Gonzalez Rogers ordered Apple ( AAPL ) to end several practices that she said were designed to circumvent her earlier injunction, including a new 27% fee it imposed on app developers when Apple ( AAPL ) customers complete an app purchase outside the App Store.

The judge also barred Apple ( AAPL ) from using so-called "scare screens" to deter consumers from using third-party payment options.