A federal jury in San Diego has ordered Apple to pay more than $5.7 billion to Taction Technology, a small San Diego company that makes audio and gaming accessories with haptic feedback. The verdict came on Friday, 26 September, in the US District Court for the Southern District of California.
Jurors found that Apple infringed two Taction patents covering low-frequency haptic transducers, the kind of component that creates the taps and vibrations of the Taptic Engine in iPhones and Apple Watches. The specific models affected had not been set out in public reporting.
A case that came back
Taction filed suit in 2021. A federal judge in San Diego dismissed the claims in 2023, but the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reversed that decision the following year and sent the case to trial.
The jury found the infringement was not wilful. That matters, because a wilfulness finding is what allows a judge to increase damages beyond the jury’s figure.
Apple’s response
Apple disputes both the finding and the size of the award. It says it does not use Taction’s technology, described the verdict as unsupported by the facts and plans to appeal.
For a company the size of Apple, the appeal is the real trial; for Taction, the verdict is leverage.
How big is it?
If it survives appeal, the award would rank among the largest patent payouts in US history. Engadget notes it would exceed the roughly $3 billion that a jury awarded VLSI against Intel, and some outlets describe it as a record. Apple is also appealing a $634 million verdict won by Masimo over Apple Watch patents, and it previously settled a haptics dispute with Immersion for an undisclosed sum.
Update: Taction asks for more
Added 25 October. On 16 October Taction asked the judge to add to the award. It wants damages for roughly six months of iPhone and Apple Watch sales between the jury’s cutoff of 28 March and the verdict, 7% annual interest on royalties it says were owed since April 2021, and an ongoing royalty on US sales until its patents expire on 24 September 2035. The proposed royalty would also cover newer devices such as the iPhone 18 Pro and Apple Watch Ultra 4; the per-device rates are redacted in the public filing. These are requests, not orders. Apple has asked the court to overturn the verdict.
What to watch
- The judge’s rulings on Apple’s bid to overturn the verdict and on Taction’s requests for interest and future royalties.
- The appeal to the Federal Circuit, which revived the case once already.
