Apple has told a federal court that it hasn't heard from Jon Prosser's legal team in a month, as discovery drags on in its trade secret lawsuit against the leaker.
In a joint status report filed on Wednesday in the Northern District of California, Apple's attorneys said they had made repeated attempts to reach Prosser's counsel about outstanding discovery issues without success. From the filing:
Apple and Mr. Prosser have worked to advance this case through limited discovery. Mr. Prosser provided documents and communications to Apple, and sat for a deposition on June 16, 2026. Unfortunately, Apple last heard from Mr. Prosser's counsel on July 6th, 2026, despite repeated attempts to communicate and follow up on outstanding discovery issues. There still appear to be deficiencies in Mr. Prosser's productions, and Apple has notified Mr. Prosser's counsel of those issues.
Shortly before the report was filed, Prosser's attorney told Apple's legal team that the delay likely stems from Prosser welcoming his second child and attending to the newborn's care. The attorney indicated he would find dates for Prosser to provide the remaining discovery materials.
Co-defendant Michael Ramacciotti, who Apple says accessed the confidential device at the center of the case, has continued cooperating throughout the case. He agreed to supplement his interrogatory responses and sit for a second deposition.
Apple sued Prosser and Ramacciotti in July 2025, accusing them of misappropriating trade secrets tied to then-unreleased iOS 26 software, including the Liquid Glass redesign, by accessing a development iPhone belonging to Apple engineer Ethan Lipnik.
Ramacciotti cooperated with the case from the outset, but Prosser initially missed several deadlines to respond, leading the court to enter a default against him in October 2025 that barred him from contesting Apple's allegations. Prosser's attorney successfully petitioned to have that default set aside in June 2026, and Prosser filed a formal answer in the case on July 2. In it, he admitted joining a FaceTime call in which Ramacciotti showed him unreleased iOS features running on the development device, but denied that what he saw constituted trade secrets and denied knowing the device belonged to Lipnik.
Apple is seeking damages as well as a permanent injunction barring Prosser from disclosing its trade secrets again. Such an order could stop him from covering unreleased Apple products at all, which forms a significant part of his YouTube channel. Ramacciotti's second deposition is set for September, and all three parties expect to file another status update with the court on October 7.
