We’ve knownfor over a month now thatTim Cook, Apple’s CEO, is going to testify in the legal battle withEpic Games. But today we find out just how long at least one deposition is going to take.
According to a report fromGizmodo, Apple has been dealt not just one blow, but two, in a judge’s latest decision. First and foremost, Cook will need to sit through a 7-hour deposition. That decision was made by Judge Thomas X. Hixon. Interestingly, Epic Games was hoping to depose Cook for a total of eight hours. Apple argued that point, and tried to get the time down to just four hours.
However, the judge decided on seven hours.
According to Judge Thomas S. Hixon, however, “this dispute is less than meets the eye.” Hixon writes that the apex doctrine “limits the length of a deposition, rather than barring it altogether,” and that given the circumstances, the dispute is a question of whether Cook should be deposed for “four hours, eight hours, or some length of time in between.” Hence, Hixon’s ruling that Cook should be deposed for seven hours.
And while Apple tried to invoke the apex doctrine in its argument for Cook (and other executives) from being deposed at all, that didn’t work out:
As for where Hixon got seven hours from, the judge writes it’s the default rule for ‘how long a witness must suffer being deposed.’ Hixon also argues that the apex doctrine focuses on whether a witness has a ‘unique, non-repetitive knowledge of the facts of the case.’ When it comes to Apple’s app store policies—which are at the center of this seemingly never-ending case against Epic—Hixon writes ‘there is really no one like Apple’s CEO who can testify about how Apple views competition in these various markets that are core to its business model.’
Apple tried to get a subpoena for Samsung as part of the ongoing legal battle with Epic Games. The goal? To prove that its App Store policies are similar to what other digital storefronts offer. Judge Hixon denied that request, though. The judge said that this would be a “quirky deep dive” into the relationship between Samsung and Epic Games, and apparently that shouldn’t be measured in this trial.
That’s an interesting point, considering Epic Games’ and Samsung’s relationship has flourished after both Apple and Google removed the mega-popular gameFortnitefrom their digital storefronts — after Epic Games knowingly broke their rules.
So, Cook will be busy with all of this, which probably shouldn’t be a surprise. you’re able to check out the timeline of all the events leading up to today’s news below.
