So - thanks to their special relationship with Apple - 
    Atari has successfully scrubbed the app store of their 
    perceived competition. It looks as though Apple complied
    without so much as a rebuttal or independent evaluation.

"it looks like" it's not enough to claim there is a "special relationship". It pisses me off that everyone having legal trouble with a third party claims wrongdoing by Apple for spurious reasons.

Apple is taking action based on "the best of their knowledge". That is, they comply when someone files a claim, but they reinstate the game when someone else files a reasoned legal rebuttal. It's not up to them to take the case to court or seek independent evaluation.