Epic, Samsung, Oura and Roblox push back in Apple DOJ case

The discovery phase of the antitrust case between Apple and the US Department of Justice (DOJ) has opened a new round of disputes. A number of technology companies that received subpoenas have used court filings to challenge the scope and burden of the document requests directed at them.

According to the filings submitted to the court, Epic Games, Samsung Electronics America, Oura, Garmin, Roblox and Playco are among the companies in disagreement with Apple or the government over how much material must be handed over, as well as questions of confidentiality and cost.

The case and the discovery process

The DOJ and 15 states plus the District of Columbia sued Apple in March 2024. The case rests on allegations that the company restricts competition, limits interoperability with rival products and makes it harder for consumers to switch to competing devices. Apple denies the claims.

Despite reports of settlement talks behind the scenes, the parties have repeatedly clashed during discovery, the stage in which evidence is exchanged ahead of trial. To bolster its defense, Apple sent subpoenas to third parties including Epic Games, Samsung Electronics America, Meta, Oura, Garmin, Playco, Ultrahuman, PayPal, Match Group and the Connectivity Standards Alliance. The DOJ and the plaintiff states issued their own subpoenas to Roblox, Epic Games, Snap and the Connectivity Standards Alliance. Google, Microsoft, JPMorgan Chase and Capital One also appear among the companies named in the legal papers.

Both sides aim to use data from Apple's rivals and commercial partners to show how the company's policies affect competition and whether those policies rest on legitimate justifications.

Objections from Epic, Samsung and Oura

Epic Games considers it disproportionately burdensome that Apple wants documents from three separate cases (Epic v. Apple in the US, Epic v. Apple in Australia and Epic v. Google in the US) and has asked for extensive searches of the internal files of three senior executives, including the CEO. The company nonetheless offered to provide some categories of information, such as Fortnite user and revenue data, its contracts with Google and Samsung, and records related to Apple's Core Technology Fee.

Samsung agreed to search the documents of two executives and reported that agreed search terms returned roughly 900,000 matching documents. Apple wants the search to cover six more executives, including Samsung Electronics America's current and former CEOs, and also wants transcripts of Samsung executives' testimony in the DOJ's antitrust case against Google. The parties further disagree on whether Samsung Electronics America must also produce documents held by its parent company in South Korea.

Oura objects on several fronts, including whether Apple should bear the cost of reviewing more than 32,000 additional documents and whether Oura may withhold or redact information it considers trade secrets. Garmin raised similar objections to requests for confidential financial and strategic information.

Different grounds for Roblox and Playco

Among the companies in these latest filings, Roblox is the only one subpoenaed by the DOJ and the plaintiff states rather than by Apple. It is objecting to requests for information about its relationship with Apple and how App Store policies are enforced. The government argues these documents could help show whether Apple applies its App Store guidelines consistently to developers.

Playco, a Japan-based instant-games company, is resisting Apple's requests for documents on its efforts to influence App Store policies and on its lobbying activity. The company argues that producing them would violate its First Amendment rights and relies on a 2021 court ruling involving similar Apple requests to Match Group.

Some companies asked for until November 11 to continue negotiations before the disputes are formally deemed deadlocked, which could keep the court from having to step in again. Separately, Apple and the DOJ are at odds over the company's effort to obtain documents from 14 federal agencies. A special master has twice ruled in Apple's favor, but the decision is on hold while the government's objection is reviewed by the court.