Apple has asked the United States Supreme Court to overturn a 2013 Appellate Court ruling that found the Cupertino firm guilty of conspiring with book publishers to fix the price of e-books.
Apple in its petition said the June decision by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York contradicted Supreme Court precedent and would “chill innovation and risktaking.”
“The Second Circuit’s decision will harm competition and the national economy,” Apple wrote.
The Justice Department declined to comment on Thursday.
The petition is Apple’s last gasp effort to vacate the 2013 guilty ruling. The company most recently lost a June appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, which upheld the verdict, saying Apple did indeed collude with HarperCollins, Simon and Schuster, Hachette Book Group, Macmillan, and Penguin to fix e-book prices.
If the Supreme Court upholds the lower court’s verdict, Apple will be forced to pay out $450 million as part of a June 2014 settlement, (only $400 million of that will go to customers.) While Apple agreed to the settlement, the payout hinges on the company’s appeals.
