On Friday, September 25th, a federal jury in the Southern District of California ruled that Apple had infringed on two “haptic feedback” patents owned by Taction Technology based in San Diego and ordered Apple to pay over $ 5.7 billion. Apple has expressed dissatisfaction with the verdict and intends to appeal.
In 2021, Taction Technology filed a lawsuit against Apple in the Southern District of California, alleging that Apple infringed on two vibration technology patents and used the related technology in the “Taptic Engine” on Apple Watch and iPhone. The patents involved in this case are US Patent No. 10,659,885 and 10,820,117.
In 2023, the initial court ruling found Apple not guilty of infringement and dismissed the lawsuit, but in 2025, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit overturned the initial ruling, sending the case back for a retrial.
The seven jurors began deliberations on September 14th, and on September 25th around 1:15 pm (Pacific Time), they reached a verdict, determining that Apple had infringed on the patents. However, the jury did not find Apple’s infringement to be willful, thus excluding punitive damages, but ordering Apple to pay over $ 5.7 billion.
In a statement, Apple expressed that the ruling and the amount of compensation are “completely without merit” and announced its plan to appeal. Apple emphasized that their Taptic Engine is fundamentally different from Taction’s technology, and the tests conducted by Taction during the trial confirmed this, proving that Apple did not use their technology.
Lance Yang, the chief lawyer of Taction and partner at Quinn Emanuel law firm, told CNBC, a US financial media outlet, “We are pleased with the jury’s decision in favor of Taction, upholding the company’s patent rights. Taction has waited five and a half years for this case to go to trial, enduring many obstacles.”