In a joint status report made public earlier today, Apple said it is still waiting on additional documents from Jon Prosser and wants to depose Michael Ramacciotti again, while both defendants pushed back on the company’s handling of the case. Here are the details.
According to a joint status report to Judge James Donato, Apple, leaker Jon Prosser, and Michael Ramacciotti are increasingly at odds over who is responsible for delays in the trade secret lawsuit Apple filed against both defendants in July 2025.
A bit of context
As a refresher, soon after announcing iOS 26, Apple filed a trade secret misappropriation lawsuit against Prosser and Ramacciotti over Prosser’s videos, where he leaked aspects of the system, including what turned out to be the Liquid Glass visual revamp.
Apple said Ramacciotti improperly accessed the development iPhone of an employee, who was later fired over the incident, and held a FaceTime call with Prosser to show him unreleased iOS features running on the device.
Since then, the case has had its own share of drama, with the clerk’s entry of default after Prosser failed to respond to Apple’s complaint by the deadline (although Prosser has disputed the characterization that he had ignored the case).
Then, eight months later, the court agreed to set that default aside and give him another chance to formally contest the allegations.
Court documents show that Ramacciotti, on the other hand, responded to Apple’s complaint and has largely cooperated with the company’s discovery requests.
Since Prosser retained representation and formally entered the case, however, things have taken a turn, with all three sides increasingly disagreeing over who is responsible for the alleged trade secret disclosure and for the delays that have followed.
The new joint status report
Back to the new status report, Apple says it wants Ramacciotti to update his interrogatory responses and sit for another deposition to address what it describes as “inconsistencies between his and Mr. Prosser’s testimony.”
Ramacciotti, however, says he will sit for another deposition once Apple provides “a roadmap to resolution of its claims against him, including what more, if anything, Apple needs from him.”
When it comes to Prosser, Apple says it “continues to await his production of certain additional documents that it requested over three months ago. These include revenue reports and data analytics for his YouTube channels and relevant communications with third parties that he identified during his deposition.”
Prosser, in turn, argues that “[i]t appears that the Trade Secrets at issue are no longer trade secrets and are in the public domain.” In other words, his argument appears to be that since Apple released the iOS update with Liquid Glass, the information at the center of the lawsuit is now publicly available and therefore no longer qualifies as secret.
As part of the joint status update, Ramacciotti asks the court to hold a status conference this month, at which Apple would be required to explain what additional information it still needs from him. He also wants Apple to then have 30 days to either dismiss its claims against him or commit to taking the case to trial.
Apple, meanwhile, wants discovery to continue, including a second deposition of Ramacciotti and the outstanding documents from Prosser. Prosser argues that he has already complied with the discovery obligations he agreed to and pushes back on Apple’s continuing requests for additional material.
If Judge Donato does not grant Ramacciotti’s request for a status conference, the parties propose filing another joint status report on December 2.
You can read the full document below:
gov.uscourts.cand.452973.38.0Download
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