Apple faces $5.7 billion damages award in Taction Technology patent case
Apple faces a more than $5.7 billion damages award after a federal jury in San Diego determined Friday that the tech giant infringed two patents held by Taction Technology. The verdict centers on the tactile transducer technology used in the Taptic Engine embedded across Apple iPhones and Apple Watches.
The Patent Infringement Claims and Verdict
A seven-member federal jury returned the verdict at 1:15 p.m. PT following a trial that began on Sept. 14 and two days of deliberations in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California. Taction Technology originally filed the lawsuit in 2021, asserting that Apple improperly capitalized on its innovation by selling devices utilizing its vibration-based technology without proper license or authorization. The jury found in favor of Taction on U.S. Patent Nos. 10,659,885 and 10,820,117, though jurors did not find the infringement to be willful.
“Taction waited five and a half years for this case to get to trial, so it was a long time coming,” said Lance Yang, partner at Quinn Emanuel and lead counsel for Taction, in a statement to CNBC. The path to the verdict included an initial dismissal of the case by the district court in 2023, which was subsequently revived on appeal by the Federal Circuit.
Apple’s Defense and Planned Appeal
The company confirmed it will pursue an appeal to overturn both the liability finding and the financial penalty.
“While we thank the jury for their consideration, we strongly disagree with today’s verdict and the damages awarded, which are entirely unsupported by the facts,” Apple stated to CNBC. “Apple’s Taptic Engine is fundamentally different from Taction’s technology, which Taction’s own testing of Apple’s products confirmed during trial. Apple does not use Taction’s technology, and we will appeal.”