United States of America: Supreme Court denied Apple's application to stay Ninth Circuit mandate in Epic Games v Apple over civil contempt finding and commission rate on linked-out purchases
Description
Supreme Court denied Apple's application to stay Ninth Circuit mandate in Epic Games v Apple over civil contempt finding and commission rate on linked-out purchases
On 6 May 2026, the Supreme Court of the United States denied Apple's application to stay the Ninth Circuit mandate in Epic Games v Apple (No. 25A1213). Apple had filed the application on 4 May 2026, following 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. Apple had argued that the Ninth Circuit's civil contempt standard conflicted with the First, Second, Third, and Fifth Circuits, that the universal scope of the Injunction contravened Trump v CASA, 606 U.S. 831 (2025), and that remand would cause irreparable harm. Epic Games filed its response opposing the stay on 5 May 2026, arguing that Apple had failed to demonstrate irreparable harm and that the Supreme Court had previously denied certiorari on both questions Apple presented. The denial permitted the Ninth Circuit mandate to issue, allowing remand proceedings to commence in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.
Original source