Is Google Map Win in Federal Court a Sign of Things to Come?

July 17, 2024

Is the rejection of developers’ claims in a class-action lawsuit against Google by a federal judge in Northern California a sign that the Department of Justice’s large, antitrust lawsuit against the high-tech company could be on shaky ground in federal court?

Federal Judge Richard Seeborg rejected a class-action lawsuit that claimed that Google was unlawfully prohibiting developers from mixing Google and non-Google data in their maps. He dismissed the case with prejudice, refusing to allow it to be refiled (though the plaintiffs are reportedly looking for other avenues to resurrect their suit).

At the heart of most of these lawsuits – whether against Google, Apple, or Amazon – is the right of a company to set boundaries between its services and products and those of its competitors. The developers wanted to allow consumers to “mix and match” Google mapping products with competitor data. Google did not want to adulterate its offerings.

Judge Seeborg came down on the side of Google, drawing a line that protects the integrity of a private company’s offerings. Looking forward, this is a good principle for other federal judges to apply in large antitrust cases. To do otherwise would be to transform private businesses into utilities, destroying hundreds of billions of dollars in shareholder value and stemming one of the main sources of technological and economic innovation in America.