U.S. Supreme Court Rejects Apple's Stay Request, App Store Commission Lawsuit Proceedings Move Forward

Nashnova编辑部
Published todayAbout 4 min read

Justice Elena Kagan denied Apple's bid to freeze lower-court proceedings over App Store out-of-app sales commission rates; Apple's legal uncertainty on the commission issue remains unresolved in the near term.

01

What exactly did the Supreme Court reject?

Justice Kagan on Thursday denied Apple's request for a stay — Apple wanted all lower-court proceedings frozen.
Apple's argument: the Supreme Court has not yet ruled on an appeal of a contempt-of-court finding in the same case, so the lower court should wait.
This means → the Supreme Court sees no reason the lower-court case must pause while the appeal is pending.
02

What happened before Thursday's order?

On Wednesday, Kagan issued a temporary administrative stay — purely to buy time to review Apple's application.
Thursday's order replaced that temporary stay — review complete, request denied.
In plain terms = Wednesday was "hold on, let me look"; Thursday was "I've looked — no."
03

What does this mean for Apple?

The lower-court proceedings on App Store out-of-app sales commission rates will now move forward.
This means → Apple cannot use procedural maneuvers to delay judicial review of its commission structure; legal uncertainty persists.
This reflects the Supreme Court's stance on Apple's "freeze first, appeal later" strategy: not persuaded.

Content is for reference only, not financial advice.