Aug 1 (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court on Friday agreed

to delay a sweeping overhaul of Google's app store Play, as the

technology giant continues to challenge a judge's order

requiring the reforms in a lawsuit brought by "Fortnite" video

game maker Epic Games.

The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals

granted Google's request for a temporary pause of the order.

Google said earlier on Friday that it planned to further appeal

the judge's October injunction, which a 9th Circuit panel upheld

on Thursday in a unanimous decision.

The injunction, which had already been paused while the 9th

Circuit considered Google's appeal, required Google to restore

competition by allowing users to download rival app stores

within its Play store and by making Play's app catalog available

to those competitors, among other reforms.

Google said the lower court's injunction was expected to

take effect in 14 days absent a court order blocking it.

In granting Google's request for an administrative stay on

Friday, the appeals court gave the company until Aug. 8 to ask

the court to put the injunction on hold for the duration of its

appeal.

Google said it plans to ask the full 9th Circuit to take up

its appeal, and if necessary will seek review by the U.S.

Supreme Court.

Google and Epic did not immediately respond to requests for

comment.

Epic in its 2020 lawsuit accused Google of monopolizing how

consumers access apps on Android devices and pay for

transactions within apps. The Cary, North Carolina-based company

convinced a San Francisco jury in 2023 that Google illegally

stifled competition.

U.S. District Judge James Donato in San Francisco issued his

Play store injunction against Google in October after a jury

earlier ruled for Epic. Google has denied any wrongdoing.

In upholding the injunction on Thursday, a 9th Circuit panel

said the record in Epic's lawsuit was "replete with evidence

that Google's anticompetitive conduct entrenched its dominance."

The case is Epic Games v. Google, 9th U.S. Circuit Court of

Appeals, No. 24-6256.

For Epic: Gary Bornstein of Cravath, Swaine & Moore

For Google: Jessica Ellsworth of Hogan Lovells

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