Apple, who are well known for their theft of patents, is now facing a major investigation by the US Justice Department, who are currently drafting documentation for a probe into Apple’s

anti-competitive practices. For years, Apple has bullied retailers and dictated terms while forcing businesses to pay large sums of money for Apple licenses and fees for selling products via

the Apple store. They have also been accused of trying to kill off competing apps. According to the _Wall Street Journal_, the investigation into whether Apple has monopoly powers that it

abuses began in 2019, resulting in the collection of “a wad” of statements and information from a multitude of brands, including accessory manufacturers, during the past two years. Well

for documents and consultation with companies who have had to put up with Apple demands. Last month, Masimo, who own audio Company Sound United, notched up another victory in its continuing

conflict with Apple. This time in the form of a favourable ruling from the US Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), which dismissed Apple’s challenges to two Masimo patents on proprietary

technology to test blood oxygenation levels. Masimo accused Apple of infringing on its patents to add a health-related feature to their popular Apple Watch products, with no compensation or

licensing arrangement with Masimo. The latest Justice Department investigation deals in part with Apple’s policies governing mobile third-party software on its devices, which has been the

focus of much of the criticism targeting Apple’s competitive practices. The department is also looking at whether Apple’s mobile operating system, iOS, operates in an anti-competitive way by

favouring its own products over those of outside developers, the people said. Apple’s standard response is that it doesn’t operate its business in a way that hurts developers. The_ Wall

Street Journal_ claims that a key question mark exists around the department’s Apple investigation because of the involvement of its top antitrust official, Jonathan Kanter. The agency

initially sidelined Kanter, who was confirmed in November 2021 as assistant attorney general for the antitrust division, from overseeing the Apple case because of his prior representation of

clients who have accused Apple of anti-competitive behaviour, the people said. The department has subsequently studied whether Kanter could be allowed to oversee the investigation and any

lawsuit against Apple, the people said. It’s now tipped that he will be involved in any action against Apple. One area of inquiry is the experience of app developer Tile, which sells

consumer-tracking devices, people familiar with the matter say. Apple, who now has their own tracking product, has been accused of trying to “nobble” Tile’s app business. In an iOS update

launched in 2019, Apple updated its Find My tracking app, a step that brought the company more into competition with Tile. As part of its update, Apple began prompting users whether they

wanted to allow Tile’s devices to track them. Apple’s Find My app is on iPhones by default and doesn’t continuously ask for user-tracking permission. Then, in 2021, Apple released a product

called an AirTag, a small device similar to those sold by Tile that can be used to track anything using the Company’s Find My app. This led to a major fall in sales at Tile. A new European

Union law, called the Digital Markets Act, is aimed at limiting tech Companies like Apple from taking advantage of their presence in digital markets such as Apple’s App Store for the iPhone

and iPad. About Post Author David Richards David Richards has been writing about technology for more than 30 years. A former Fleet Street journalist, he wrote the Award Winning Series on the

Federated Ships Painters + Dockers Union for the Bulletin that led to a Royal Commission. He is also a Logie Winner for Outstanding Contribution To TV Journalism with a story called The

Werribee Affair. In 1997, he built the largest Australian technology media company and prior to that the third largest PR company that became the foundation company for Ogilvy PR. Today he

writes about technology and the impact on both business and consumers.