Apple vs. OpenAI: Dispute over evidence ahead of October 14 hearing

The lawsuit over allegedly leaked Apple secrets is currently focused on procedural disputes, just ahead of a key hearing. On October 14, the US District Court for the Northern District of California is scheduled to hear Apple's motion for a preliminary injunction against OpenAI. In a new filing, Apple accuses the ChatGPT developer of failing to follow the court's rules, according to 9to5Mac.

Apple filed the lawsuit in July against OpenAI, its hardware company io Products, and former Apple employees Chang Liu and Tang Tan. It alleges that confidential information about hardware design, manufacturing and product development was passed to OpenAI. OpenAI denies the allegations, has moved to dismiss the case, and says it neither possesses nor wants Apple's trade secrets.

Who can submit additional evidence?

The proposed preliminary injunction would bar OpenAI and the other defendants from accessing, using or disclosing Apple's confidential information while the case proceeds. Apple submitted five expert reports with its final brief supporting the motion. In late September, the defendants asked the court to strike two of them, arguing that Apple had introduced new evidence too late for them to respond adequately.

Apple is now turning that accusation back on the defendants. Under the court's rules, such an objection may challenge new evidence but cannot include further arguments on the merits and must be no longer than five pages. Apple says the defendants instead submitted nine pages and reargued the substance of the motion. It identifies a new declaration from Liu as the most significant overstep. In it, Liu explains, among other things, why he erased his iMac before returning it to Apple and addresses his use of a confidential Apple file.

Apple's conclusion is strategically astute: since the defendants have now responded to everything anyway, the court should strike nothing and decide the motion based on all the filings, including Apple's new expert reports.

What's at stake on October 14

For OpenAI, more than procedural formalities are at stake. According to Bloomberg, the company plans to announce its first hardware product later this year and begin shipping it in 2027. If the court grants the injunction, that development would face scrutiny until a final judgment. Whether that happens will not be decided until after the hearing, which is just over a week away, at the earliest.