Having maintained its innocence throughout the federal district court trial, which it lost, and in the appeal, which it lost in a split decision, it should surprise no one that Apple is taking its e-book antitrust case to the highest court in the land.
Accompanying Thursday’s 250-page petition was a brief statement to the press:
“When Apple launched the iBooks Store in 2010, we brought choice to consumers and innovation to ebooks. We have always acted in the best interest of customers and content creators of all sizes. We did nothing wrong, and stand by our principles. At this point, our only recourse is to take this to the Supreme Court.”
There’s no guarantee the Supreme Court will hear the case. And with two strikes against it, the odds of a favorable outcome for Apple are steep.
But that may not matter to Tim Cook and company.
With its war chest of cash, Apple can afford to wage quixotic fights. Especially if they are fights Steve Jobs started. Especially if a large segment of its customer base is inclined to see the case its way.
This is Apple “thinking different” to the bitter end.
See The Apple e-book trial: The view from the hard benches.
LINK: Petition for a writ of ceteriorari.
Follow Philip Elmer-DeWitt on Twitter at @philiped. Read his Apple (AAPL) coverage at fortune.com/ped or subscribe via his RSS feed. You might also want to subscribe to Data Sheet, Fortune’s daily newsletter on the business of technology.
