Update, 7:51 p.m. ET: The joint notice of settlement is now publicly available and has been added below the original post.
Judge Trina L. Thompson has granted a seven-day pause in iyO’s trademark lawsuit against OpenAI and Jony Ive at the parties’ request, as they work to finalize a settlement. Here are the details.
According to new court filings, iyO and OpenAI have told Judge Trina L. Thompson that they have reached an agreement in principle and requested a seven-day pause to finalize the settlement details in their ongoing lawsuit.
As a refresher, shortly after OpenAI announced it was acquiring Jony Ive’s io Products startup to build a new generation of AI devices, iyO filed a lawsuit accusing the companies of infringing its trademarks.
iyO later amended the complaint to add trade secret claims, alleging that io Products’ co-founder Tang Tan had obtained confidential information about its technology and product designs through a former iyO executive.
Based on the lawsuit’s schedule, a hearing had been set for today to discuss OpenAI’s motion to strike or dismiss iyO’s amended complaint.
However, the parties filed a joint notice yesterday informing the court that they had reached a settlement in principle. In their filing, they also requested that the proceedings be paused for seven days while they finalize the agreement.
While the content of the joint notice has yet to be made publicly available (Update: the content is now available), Judge Thompson’s order provides more details on the seven-day pause and what happens next:
ORDER 195 : The Court has received a notice of settlement in principle. The parties have requested a 7 day stay to finalize the agreement. The stay is granted. Upon finalization and no later than 8/6/26, the parties shall either file a request for dismissal or a joint status report. The stay will be lifted on 8/6/26. The hearing 128 set for 7/28/2026 is hereby VACATED and RESET to 9/8/2026 alongside the hearing of the motion to alter judgment 163 . Both motions will become moot and the case will be terminated upon the filing of a Request for Dismissal. If the matter does not resolve the Parties shall file a response to the questions for the hearing 193 by 9/7/2026 and respond to an order to show cause. Signed by Judge Trina L. Thompson on July 27, 2026. (This is a text-only entry generated by the court. There is no document associated with this entry.) (Thompson, Trina) (Filed on 7/27/2026) Modified on 7/27/2026 (Thompson, Trina). (Entered: 07/27/2026)
In essence, Judge Thompson granted that request, giving them until August 6 to either file an official request to dismiss the lawsuit or, if they are unable to finalize the settlement, submit a joint status report.
The hearing scheduled for today has been moved to September 8, alongside a separate hearing on OpenAI’s request to alter or dissolve a preliminary injunction preventing it and Jony Ive’s hardware venture from using the “io” branding.
OpenAI had previously told the court that it did not plan to use “io” to name or market its upcoming hardware products. However, Judge Thompson later questioned the scope and duration of that commitment before granting iyO’s request for a preliminary injunction.
What do you think the terms of the settlement will be? Let us know in the comments.
Update, 7:51 p.m. ET: The joint notice of settlement is now public available, with the following statement:
Plaintiff and Defendants, through their respective counsel of record, jointly submit this notice to inform the Court that they have reached a settlement in principle and are working to reduce the terms to a formal agreement, which they expect to execute shortly. Accordingly, the parties request that the Court stay and adjourn further proceedings, including all pending deadlines and events, for a period of 7 days to permit the parties to finalize their agreement.
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