Apple wants Samsung to search the files of six more executives, including the CEO of its US arm, and it wants Epic Games to hand over documents from three earlier lawsuits. Both demands appear in joint notices of impasse filed on November 4 in United States v. Apple, the Justice Department’s antitrust case in New Jersey federal court.
The letters, first spotted by 9to5Mac, went to Magistrate Judge Leda Dunn Wettre. Apple and the government had agreed that any stuck fights over subpoenas to outside companies had to be raised by November 4, according to the government’s Roblox filing. So a pile of them landed on the same day, and together they show how Apple plans to defend itself.
Apple wants Samsung to search six more executives, including its US CEO
Apple served its subpoena on Samsung Electronics America on January 30, 2026. Samsung agreed to search the files of two people, Drew Blackard, senior vice president of mobile product management, and Paul Kim, vice president of corporate strategy. Samsung says nearly 900,000 documents from those two hit the agreed search terms and calls that “more than sufficient” for a company that is not a party to the case.
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Apple disagrees, pointing to “Samsung’s central importance to this case.” It wants six more custodians added:
- Yoonie Joung, current president and CEO of Samsung Electronics America
- K.S. Choi, former president and CEO
- Lee Williams, former SVP for product management and business operations
- Brent Yoo, former interim EVP of the Mobile eXperience business
- Dave Das, EVP of the Mobile eXperience business
- Clay McNutt, VP and sales general manager for national retail
Apple also wants sales, financial and user data, which it says bears on “competition and consumer switching.” It is fighting over whether the US unit must turn over documents held by its Korean parent, and it wants deposition transcripts of Samsung officers Tim Baxter and Jay Kim from the government’s Google search case. The two sides say they negotiated for more than six months before giving up.
Apple wants Epic to reproduce discovery from three lawsuits and search its CEO’s files
Apple’s subpoena to Epic, served April 9, 2026, asks for the material Epic already produced in Epic v. Apple in the US, Epic v. Apple in Australia and Epic v. Google. Apple also wants Epic to run eight search strings across three custodians’ files from January 2022 to now.
Epic’s response is sharp. It says Apple wants it to reproduce “millions of documents” and that Apple’s search terms would sweep up “a substantial portion of the files of the three custodians Apple demands, including Epic’s CEO.” Epic offered Fortnite user and revenue data, its contracts with Google and Samsung, its European Commission and UK regulator submissions, and its Core Technology Fee invoices. Epic says the two sides are not at impasse at all. The companies are also heading to the Supreme Court in January in their long-running App Store fight.
Apple wants Oura to review 32,182 more documents and share private financial data
The Oura filing shows Apple treating the smart ring maker as a real rival. Apple calls Oura “a significant competitor in a relevant market” and wants it to review 32,182 additional documents. Oura says fine, if Apple pays for that review.
Apple also wants documents from 2019 onward, while Oura wants to start in 2021. Apple asks for engineering files, consumer research on people who own both products or switch between them, and non-public price, cost and usage data, which it calls “critical evidence of market definition, monopoly power, and damages.” Oura wants to withhold trade secrets and log them instead.
Garmin is in a similar spot. Its notice says it has agreed to nearly all of Apple’s subpoena but is still fighting over financial and strategic data it calls competitively sensitive.
The DOJ is fighting Roblox, and Playco says Apple’s demand violates the First Amendment
Not every fight is Apple’s. The government subpoenaed Roblox on December 5, 2025, hoping its documents “will show whether Apple consistently applies its App Store Guidelines to developers.” The government says Roblox produced about 400 documents, mostly public web pages and filings. Roblox counters that it handed over more than 5,000 pages, including emails with Apple, and that the government went silent for 24 weeks before re-engaging in October.
Then there is Playco. Apple wants documents on Playco’s efforts to change or get around Apple’s App Store rules, lobby for laws about them, or draw public attention to them. Playco refuses on First Amendment grounds and cites a 2021 California ruling that blocked a similar Apple request to Match Group. Playco, Garmin and Apple asked the court to hold off declaring impasse until November 11 so talks can continue.
Nothing changes for your iPhone yet. But these filings preview Apple’s argument. It wants evidence that you can and do switch to a Samsung phone, an Oura ring or a Garmin watch, which would undercut the claim that Apple locks you in. The government wants the opposite, proof that Apple bends its rules for some developers. The case has already seen a deadlock over document rules between Apple and the DOJ.
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