Apple will ask the Supreme Court to hear its ebooks antitrust case

Apple hasn’t technically submitted its formal request with the High Court yet, but has asked for a 30-day extension to do so.

Negotiations prior to the iBooks Store launch in 2010 led to publishers adopting an agency model, and Apple winning “most favored nation” status, such that e-book prices elsewhere could be no lower than its own. “This question is exceedingly important to the United States economy as it concerns the rules that will govern disruptive entry by dynamic companies into new or stagnant markets”, Apple writes.

The request will be the latest turn in a case that’s now spanned years.

Colluding with publishers and price fixing is neither morally right nor legally right, unless Tim Cook has followed the Steve Jobs path into believing transcendental meditation cures cancer and Apple now officially exists in a parallel universe. U.S. District Judge Denise Cote called the scheme “blatant price fixing”.

Assuming Apple receives the time extension, it will have until October 28th to file its full request to the court, which will then decide whether to hear the case. Apple subsequently appealed, but the judgment was upheld in June 2015 by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. In 2013, the company was found guilty of conspiring to fix the prices of e-books in an attempt to compete with Amazon, with courts saying that Apple had organized with major publishers to have favorable prices.

Given that Apple’s damages in the case aren’t that much for a company Apple’s size – and most people thought this case was over – it’s a bit of a mystery why Cupertino lawyers would continue battling on.

When it lost its Second Circuit appeal, Apple issued a public statement arguing that while it wanted to put the case behind it, it did nothing wrong and was continuing to fight for “principles and values”.