Apple faces patent infringement verdict of more than $5.7 billion

A federal jury in San Diego awarded Taction Technology more than $5.7 billion in damages Friday after finding that Apple infringing claims of two haptics patents.

Taction sued Apple in 2021 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California. The company alleged that Apple was “inappropriately capitalizing on Taction’s innovation and success” by selling devices that infringed on its vibration technology, according to the complaint. Apple initially won the dismissal in 2023, and the Federal Circuit later revived the case.

“While we thank the jury for their consideration, we strongly disagree with today’s verdict and the damages awarded, which are completely unsupported by the facts,” Apple told CNBC in a statement. “Apple’s Taptic Engine is fundamentally different from Taction’s technology, which Taction’s own testing of Apple products has confirmed during trials. Apple does not use Taction’s technology and we will appeal.”

“We are pleased that the jury chose Taction and asserted its patent rights,” the company’s lead attorney, Lance Yang, a partner at Quinn Emanuel, told CNBC. “Taction waited five and a half years for this case to come to trial, so it’s been a long time.”

The lawsuit centered on U.S. Patents Nos. 10,659,885 and 10,820,117, both of which involve vibration-based tactile transducer technology that helps users feel that a device is responding to their input. Taction argued that Apple’s “Taptic Engine,” built into its Apple Watches and iPhones, uses its inventions without proper licensing or authorization.

The jury trial began September 14, and the seven jurors deliberated for two days after the proceedings concluded. They returned at 1:15 p.m. PT on Friday and delivered the verdict in favor of Taction.

The jury did not find Apple’s intentional infringement.

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