Taction Technology’s patent dispute with Apple began in 2021, when the haptics company accused the iPhone maker of using its vibration technology without a licence. The case concerns two patents covering tactile transducers — components designed to let users physically feel a device respond to their touch.¹

Apple briefly appeared to have escaped the case in 2023, when it won a dismissal. But the Federal Circuit revived the lawsuit, sending the fight back toward trial. Taction’s broader accusation was that Apple had reverse-engineered technology from two Kannon gaming headsets; Apple has not conceded that claim.²

At trial, which began on Sept. 14, Taction argued that the Taptic Engine used in iPhones and Apple Watches incorporated its inventions without permission. After proceedings ended, the seven-person San Diego federal jury deliberated for two days and returned Friday with a sweeping result: it found infringement of two claims in one patent and one claim in the other, awarding Taction more than $5.7 billion.¹

For Taction, the verdict was a payoff after years of delay. “We’re happy the jury found for Taction and vindicated its patent rights,” lead counsel Lance Yang said, adding that the company had waited “five and a half years” to reach trial.¹

Apple, however, is treating the judgment as a contestable setback rather than a final bill. “We strongly disagree with today’s verdict and the damages awarded,” the company said, arguing that its Taptic Engine is “fundamentally different” from Taction’s technology and that trial testing supported its position. Apple said it does not use Taction’s technology and will appeal.¹

The jury did not find Apple’s infringement willful, an important limitation on Taction’s victory. Still, the size of the award makes the coming appeal a high-stakes test of whether Apple’s signature touch-feedback hardware can be legally separated from the patents Taction says it borrowed.²