Apple attempted to avoid producing a vast amount of documentation by Monday, as mandated in its ongoing legal dispute with Epic, but Judge Thomas Hixson would not accept such an eleventh-hour effort. By August’s early days, the corporation faced a September 30 deadline for submitting relevant documentation regarding last year’s activities, as part of its effort to comply with a court-ordered injunction. Apple initially told the court that the task involved examining around 650,000 documents, but updated its estimate on Thursday, revealing the figure had surged to over 1.3 million, and requesting a two-week extension. Apple’s Chief Executive Officer, Tim Cook, was denied the request by Hixson on Friday through a strongly worded notice that referred to Apple’s attempted transfer as “dangerous conduct”.
As the courtroom proceedings continued, it emerged that Apple and Epic had been filing joint standing briefs every two weeks, a process whose complexity far surpassed earlier estimates, as noted by the judge with surprise. Hixson emphasized that this information would have been readily apparent to Apple’s team several weeks prior. The judge’s skepticism is palpable: “Can it truly be believed that Apple only discovered this information just two weeks after the final standings were reported?” According to Hixson, Apple likely had a plethora of resources at its disposal, virtually ensuring it could complete the project within the designated timeframe.
Apple’s sudden announcement of a four-day delay, citing a document dependency issue it was aware of for weeks, raises serious concerns about its commitment to responsible behavior.
