Apple Hit With $5.7 Billion Patent Verdict Over Technology Inside iPhones and Apple Watches

Apple has been hit with a $5.7 billion patent verdict after a federal jury found that haptic technology used in iPhones and Apple Watches infringed two patents owned by Taction Technology Inc.

The San Diego jury returned the verdict Friday after deliberating for parts of two days, finding that Apple infringed claims in two Taction patents covering haptic technology. Jurors also found the infringement was not willful, a finding that could limit Taction’s ability to pursue enhanced damages.

At issue is Apple’s Taptic Engine, the hardware that produces the taps, vibrations, and other physical responses users feel when interacting with an iPhone or Apple Watch. Taction accused Apple of incorporating patented technology involving tactile transducers, devices designed to generate vibrations that can be perceived through touch.

Apple disputes both the infringement finding and the size of the award and said it plans to appeal. The company maintains that its Taptic Engine operates differently from the technology covered by Taction’s patents and argued that testing presented during the trial supported its position.

Friday’s verdict came three years after Apple won the case at summary judgment, only for a federal appeals court to revive Taction’s infringement claims and send the dispute back toward trial.

Taction sued Apple in 2021 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California, alleging infringement of U.S. Patent Nos. 10,659,885 and 10,820,117. Both patents concern systems for producing damped vibrations that users can perceive through touch.

U.S. District Judge Todd W. Robinson granted Apple summary judgment in 2023, resolving Taction’s infringement claims before they reached a jury. His ruling relied in part on the exclusion of opinions from Taction’s technical expert and the court’s interpretation of language in the patents.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit revived the lawsuit in August 2025, concluding that the district court abused its discretion by excluding portions of Taction’s expert testimony and also erred in its interpretation of the patent claims. The decision returned the infringement dispute to the trial court for a jury to resolve.

Summary judgment allows a judge to resolve a claim before trial when the evidence leaves no genuine dispute over facts that could affect the outcome. The Federal Circuit’s decision restored factual disputes over Apple’s technology, leading to the San Diego trial and Friday’s multibillion-dollar verdict.

Federal patent law allows judges to increase damages by as much as three times in cases involving sufficiently serious infringement. Jurors found Apple’s infringement was not willful, removing one potential basis for Taction to seek that type of enhanced award.

Court proceedings have also identified Gronostaj Investments LLC and Kenosha Investments LP as outside funders of Taction’s litigation. Kenosha has been identified in separate litigation as an indirect subsidiary of litigation finance company Burford Capital, which provides financing in exchange for financial interests tied to legal claims.

Taction attorney Tigran Guledjian of Quinn Emanuel said the verdict vindicated the company’s patent rights after more than five years of litigation.

The case now moves into post-trial proceedings before Judge Robinson, where Apple can challenge the $5.7 billion damages award before pursuing its announced appeal. Any appeal involving the patent issues would return the dispute to the Federal Circuit, the same court that revived Taction’s case last year.