• by Wendy Davis  @wendyndavis, February 11, 2025

A federal appeals court in Washington, D.C. has rejected Apple's request to immediately halt an antitrust proceeding that could result in an order ending the company's long-standing search and revenue-sharing partnership with Google.

Apple “has not met the stringent requirements” for an immediate stay, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals wrote in a brief order issued Monday.

The appellate court directed Apple to file its substantive arguments by Wednesday, February 12 -- indicating that the court will consider the company's petition on an expedited basis.

The order comes in an antitrust lawsuit brought by the Justice Department and a coalition of states in 2020, when they alleged that Google monopolized search.

In August, after conducting a trial, U.S. District Court Judge Amit Mehta ruled that Google violated antitrust law by arranging to serve as the default search engine on browsers operated by Apple and Mozilla, as well as on Android devices.

Mehta is expected to hold a hearing in April over potential remedies.

The federal government has proposed numerous terms, including that Google end a long-running multi-billion dollar revenue-sharing deal with Apple. That arrangement involves Google serving as the default search engine for Safari, and paying Apple around 36% of search revenue for queries originating on Safari. The agreement resulted in an estimated $20 billion payment from Google to Apple in 2022.

In late December, Apple sought to intervene in the hearing over remedies, arguing that it has a stake in the outcome.

Mehta denied Apple's request as untimely, ruling that Apple should have known earlier that the lawsuit would affect its deal with Google.

He said he will allow Apple to participate as a friend-of-the-court, and also to file post-hearing submissions, but not to present live witness testimony or cross-examine witnesses for the government or Google.

Apple is now appealing that decision to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. Last week, the company asked the appellate court to order Mehta to stay proceedings in the case while the appeal is pending or, alternatively, to expedite the appeal.