Apple’s October 5, 2026 filing argues that OpenAI and its co-defendants used objections to evidence in Apple’s preliminary-injunction reply to make additional arguments about the merits. That is Apple’s characterization of a procedural dispute—not a decision by the court on the evidence or on Apple’s underlying claims.
What Apple says the dispute is about
In Apple Inc. v. Chang Liu, Tang Yew Tan, OpenAI Foundation, OpenAI Group PBC, and io Products, LLC, case 5:26-cv-07078-EJD, Apple filed a reply brief supporting its request for a preliminary injunction, along with five expert declarations. The defendants objected to material they considered new evidence and asked the court to disregard some of it. Apple responded that their objections went beyond identifying new evidence and reopened argument over the motion’s merits.
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Apple’s response put the point bluntly: “Defendants did not comply with this restriction and used their filing to relitigate the merits of Apple’s Motion for Preliminary Injunction.” That is the plaintiff’s assertion in a court filing, not a finding by Judge Edward J. Davila. The case is pending in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, San Jose Division. The filing is Dkt. 173, dated October 5, 2026.
Why Apple says the objections crossed a procedural line
Apple relies on Civil Local Rule 7-3(d)(1), which it says allows objections to new evidence submitted with a reply brief but does not allow a party to use those objections to add further argument on the motion. Apple contends that the defendants’ filing, together with a declaration from former Apple employee Chang Liu, amounted to nine pages despite a five-page text limit.
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Those page-limit and rule arguments are Apple’s contentions. The filing does not itself establish that the defendants violated the rule; the court would have to decide how the rule applies and what, if any, consequence follows.
What Apple objected to in Chang Liu’s declaration
Apple called Liu’s declaration “the most egregious overreach” and described it as eight paragraphs of new testimony. According to Apple, the declaration addressed why Liu erased data from an iMac before returning it, the meaning of text messages with an Apple supplier, and his use of an Apple confidential computer file.
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These descriptions reflect Apple’s account and allegations in an adversarial filing. They should not be read as established facts about Liu’s conduct or as a court’s interpretation of the messages or file.
What Apple asked the court to do
Apple asked the court to deny the defendants’ request to strike Apple’s reply evidence and to decide the preliminary-injunction motion on the full record. The requested relief concerns what materials the judge should consider at this stage; it does not resolve whether Apple is entitled to an injunction or whether its claims will ultimately succeed.
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Hearing date listed in the filing
Apple’s October 5 response listed a hearing on the preliminary-injunction request for October 14, 2026, at 9:00 a.m., before Judge Davila. That is the schedule stated in the filing. It does not confirm that the hearing took place or that the court issued a ruling afterward.
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