United States of America: Apple applied to Supreme Court to stay Ninth Circuit mandate pending certiorari in Epic Games v Apple over civil contempt finding and commission rate on linked-out purchases

On 4 May 2026, Apple filed an application in the Supreme Court of the United States, directed to the Circuit Justice for the Ninth Circuit, to stay the issuance of the Ninth Circuit mandate in Epic Games v Apple (No. 25A1213) pending the filing and disposition of a petition for a writ of certiorari. The application followed the Ninth Circuit's 11 December 2025 ruling affirming the civil contempt finding against Apple, holding that Apple's 27% commission on linked-out purchases had a prohibitive effect in violation of the Injunction and that Apple's link design restrictions under the Link Entitlement program violated the Injunction, reversing the 30 April 2025 ruling's permanent ban on all commissions, remanding to the district court to determine a permissible commission rate on linked-out purchases, declining to vacate the Injunction, and denying Apple's request to reassign the case, as well as the Ninth Circuit's subsequent reversal of its own order granting a stay of the mandate. Apple argued that the Ninth Circuit's civil contempt standard, which permits contempt for violating the spirit of an injunction where the injunction's text is silent on the conduct at issue, conflicts with the approach of the First, Second, Third, and Fifth Circuits. Apple further argued that the universal scope of the Injunction, extending to all App Store developers worldwide, contravenes the limits on equitable relief established in Trump v CASA, 606 U.S. 831 (2025). Apple contended that proceeding to remand would cause irreparable harm through stigma, compelled disclosure of confidential business information, and the risk that a court-set commission rate would reshape the global app market before review.