Apple is pushing back against the Department of Justice’s bid to overturn a court decision allowing the company to seek documents from more than a dozen federal agencies. Here are the details.
Apple’s premise is that if it can show the federal government chose its products for their privacy features, that evidence could support its argument that the practices challenged by the DOJ have legitimate justifications rather than being anticompetitive. Following Apple’s victory in this dispute, the DOJ filed a motion asking retired federal judge Jose Linares, who is serving as a special discovery master in the case, to reconsider his decision. In its motion, the DOJ asks the court to reverse Apple’s discovery win, arguing that Judge Linares applied the wrong legal standard by treating the agencies as parties to the case, rather than non-parties entitled to greater protection from discovery.
A few weeks ago, Apple secured the right to seek documents from 14 US agencies as part of its defense against the antitrust case the Department of Justice brought against the company in March 2024. Because federal agencies are not “ordinary consumers, the DOJ also argues that Apple’s requests would impose an undue burden on the agencies, relying on 13 newly submitted declarations, and that the documents have limited relevance.
In its conclusion, Apple says:
The Motion fails at every level. Its legal arguments are impermissible re-litigation; its new evidence” was always available and cannot properly be considered; and even on the merits, the declarations do not establish undue burden. Apple respectfully requests that the Motion be denied.
