Apple is now asking the Supreme Court of the United States to once again hear their appeal concerning the price-fixing case of their E-book products.
The case started in 2012 when the Department of Justice charged Apple together with the largest book publishing companies in the U.S for some conspiracy. Second Circuit Judge Debra Ann Livingstone stated that the company violated the Sherman Act, the federal antitrust law, thru their "unreasonably restrained trade".
Last 2013, the American tech company was found accountable for collaborating with the publishers to sell their e-books at higher prices. Three months after federal appeals, the court uphold the two-year-old verdict. And now, Apple is bringing the case to the highest federal court of the United States.
Based on the filed petition, Apple is appealing for a 30-day extension of time for filing official submissions that would commence the Supreme Court's examination procedure. In the filing, the multinational company stated that the prior verdicts are in conflict with federal court's criterion concerning the accountability of the company's conduct in the price-fixing scheme.
In a portion of the filed petition, Apple stated that the case "presents issues of surpassing importance to the United States Economy."
"This case concerns the imposition of per se antitrust liability on the basis of vertical conduct that was geared toward a new market entry and the disruption of a competitor's monopoly."
"This case also presents issues of surpassing importance to the United State economy. Dynamic, disruptive entry into new or stagnant markets-the lifeblood of American economic growth-often requires the very type of vertical contracting and conduct," which the company is engaged in.
The company has already processed a contingent settlement in the said case. If the Supreme Court will not hear both cases or if it will support the prior verdict, Apple will pay $450 million fine.
