The latest salvo in the case of Apple suing OpenAI for alleged trade secret theft sees both companies exchanging more procedural and legalese fire.

The case hasn't gone to trial yet and already OpenAI has pivoted from pleading innocence to saying it's Apple's fault if it can't keep trade secrets. Now even as Apple has protested that every day's delay does material harm, OpenAI is delaying everything it can.

That has recently entailed OpenAI's lawyers saying Apple was improperly adding more evidence which should therefore be ignored. Apple's new evidence was a briefing plus expert testimony in response to OpenAI's claim that Apple didn't protect its trade secrets sufficiently.

This is more of a solid legal argument than it sounds, since if OpenAI can establish that Apple didn't protect its secrets, they weren't secret. And therefore OpenAI cannot be accused of stealing trade secrets.

The latest move, though, is Apple responding to accusations of it adding new evidence, by accusing OpenAI of doing precisely the same thing.

Specifically, Apple's filing — as first seen by 9to5mac — notes that OpenAI was entitled to object to what it saw as new evidence. But legally the company "may not include further argument on the motion."

"[OpenAI] did not comply with this restriction," says Apple, "and used their filing to relitigate the merits of Apple's Motion for Preliminary Injunction."

Describing it as the "most egregious overreach," Apple claims that OpenAI has tried to enter new excuses for its alleged actions. Then even legitimate objections can run to a maximum of five pages, but OpenAI has filed nine.

So it's come to this. The page count. Apple's rebuttal of OpenAI's latest move is three pages, incidentally, where two of them are just listing the lawyers involved.

What happens next

This is the level of detail that is being debated now, and the aim is to prolong the time before this goes to trial.

Practically from the start, Apple has been pressing for a preliminary injunction against OpenAI. It has been asking for discovery to start early, specifically to prevent OpenAI destroying evidence and delaying its testimony.

Delays help OpenAI because without them, it is possible that this legal case would prevent the company releasing its planned hardware device. That release is becoming more urgent for OpenAI as its finances as such that it has been losing $1.25 for every $1 it earns.