Apple is taking its ebook price-fixing fight all the way to the Supreme Court.
The tech giant on Wednesday filed a motion with the high court, asking for a 30-day extension to find its formal submission to begin the appeal process.
Cupertino hopes to have overturned a federal judge's finding that the company conspired to fix ebook prices more than five years ago.
In April 2012, the Department of Justice sued Apple and five publishers—Macmillan, Penguin, Hachette, HarperCollins, and Simon & Schuster—over an alleged "illegal conspiracy" involving ebook price fixing. State-level suits were filed at the same time.
While the publishers settled with the government, and have already paid out about $166 million in fines, Apple took its argument to court. It was found guilty in 2013, but appealed the decision.
Last year, Apple agreed to a $450 million settlement, but the final amount owed by Cupertino depends on the outcome of its pending appeal. If Apple loses, it will pay $400 million into a consumer compensation fund, $20 million to settle state cases, and $30 million to the class counsel. If the original court ruling, which found Apple guilty of price-fixing, is not affirmed and the liability part of the case must be re-tried, Apple will pay $50 million to consumers, and $10 million each to the states and class counsel. If Apple is ultimately determined not to be liable, it will not have to pay.
"This case … presents issues of surpassing importance to the United States economy," Apple said in this week's filing. "Dynamic, disruptive entry into new or stagnant markets—the lifeblood of American economic growth—often requires the very type" of behavior in which Apple engaged.
Apple has long maintained that it did nothing wrong; it did not immediately respond to PCMag's request for comment.