A federal jury in San Diego has rules that Apple must pay more than $5.7 billion to Taction Technology, after finding that the Taptic Engine in iPhones and Apple Watches infringed two of Taction's patents.
The jury delivered its verdict on Friday, September 25, after deliberating for parts of two days. Taction, a San Diego company, suedd in 2021 in the US District Court for the Southern District of California. It said Apple used its vibration technology without a license. The patents numbered 10,659,885 and 10,820,117 cover devices that let a user feel a screen or device respond to touch. Jury found that Apple infringed two claims in one patent and one claim in the other. The jury awarded about $5.72 billion in damages.
In a statement after the verdict, Apple said; "Apple does not use Taction's technology, and we will appeal."
The Taptic Engine is the vibration part that give users a small " tap" or "click" feeling. Apple also said the Taptic Engine is fundamentally different from Taction's technology and that Taction's own testing during the trial confirmed this. The jury did not find that Apple infringed on purpose
.A judge threw out Taction's claims in 2023, before they reached a jury. The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit revived the case in August 2025. It ruled that the lower court had wrongly excluded part of Taction's expert evidence and misread the patent claims. The trial began on September 14, 2026 and seven jurors decided the case.
The appeal is expected to go to the Federal Circuit, the same court that revived the case. If the verdict stands, the payout would be among the largest in US patent history. Apple faces other patent fights too, including one over the blood oxygen feature on the Apple Watch.
