San Diego Jury Orders Apple to Pay More Than $5.7 Billion to Taction Technology Over Taptic Engine Patents

A federal jury in San Diego has ordered Apple to pay more than $5.7 billion to Taction Technology after finding the company infringed two patents covering the vibration technology behind the Taptic Engine used in iPhones and Apple Watches, according to CNBC and Bloomberg Law. The verdict, returned Friday, Sept. 25, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California, caps a five-and-a-half-year legal fight and is being described by outlets including VIN News as the largest patent-infringement damages award ever issued by a U.S. jury.

What the jury found

The case, Taction Tech. Inc. v. Apple Inc., No. 3:21-cv-00812, centered on U.S. Patent Nos. 10,659,885 and 10,820,117, which describe tactile transducers that produce bass-frequency vibrations people can feel, according to Bloomberg Law and CNBC. Taction, a San Diego-based haptics company that also makes products such as headphones and gaming headsets, argued that Apple's Taptic Engine, the hardware that produces taps and vibrations in iPhones and Apple Watches, used its patented inventions without a license, per MacRumors and Law Commentary. Apple has used the Taptic Engine since the first Apple Watch in 2015 and brought it to iPhones starting with the iPhone 6s, per PCMag.

The trial began Sept. 14, and seven jurors deliberated for two days before returning the verdict in Taction's favor at 1:15 p.m. PT on Friday, CNBC and MacRumors reported. The claims at issue were patent infringement claims only. Apple had also argued the patents were invalid, according to VIN News, and the litigation included what Bloomberg Law described as Apple's efforts to expose Taction's financial ties to outside litigation funders.

How the case reached a jury

The path to trial was not straightforward. U.S. District Judge Todd W. Robinson granted Apple summary judgment in 2023, ending Taction's infringement claims before they ever reached a jury, based partly on his exclusion of some of Taction's expert testimony and his interpretation of the patent language, per Law Commentary. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit revived the lawsuit in August 2025, finding the district court had abused its discretion in excluding portions of that expert testimony and had also erred in construing the patent claims, according to Bloomberg Law and Law Commentary.

Damages composition and what happens next

The jury awarded Taction approximately $5.72 billion, an amount VIN News reports remains subject to further legal proceedings and Apple's planned appeal. Notably, the jury found Apple's infringement was not willful, a finding that removes one potential basis for Taction to seek enhanced damages, according to Law Commentary and The Next Web. Federal patent law allows judges to increase damages awards by up to three times in cases involving sufficiently serious infringement, but that avenue is closed off here because jurors did not find Apple acted on purpose, per those two outlets.

The $5.7 billion figure is not final. Apple can challenge the award in post-trial motions before Judge Robinson before pursuing its announced appeal at the Federal Circuit, according to The Next Web and Law Commentary. Apple is represented in the case by Fish & Richardson, Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, Walker Stevens Cannom LLP and Goldman Ismail Tomaselli Brennan & Baum LLP, while Kenosha Investments LP and Gronostaj Investments LLC are represented by Singer Cashman LLP, per Bloomberg Law.

By way of comparison, The Next Web notes the previous high-water mark for a U.S. jury patent verdict was a 2021 Texas jury's $2.18 billion award to VLSI Technology against Intel, a verdict later thrown out on appeal. Using the figures reported by The Next Web, the $5.7 billion Taction award exceeds that $2.18 billion figure by $3.52 billion (5.7 − 2.18), a difference of roughly 161% ((5.7 − 2.18) / 2.18 × 100). That calculation is ours, and it illustrates the relative scale of the verdict rather than any prediction about how much of the award, if any, Apple will ultimately pay.

Apple's response

Apple told CNBC it strongly disagrees with the verdict and the damages awarded, which it called "entirely unsupported by the facts." The company said: "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." MacRumors likewise reported that Apple intends to appeal the decision. Taction's lead counsel, identified as Lance Yang of Quinn Emanuel by CNBC and as Tigran Guledjian of the same firm by Bloomberg Law, said the jury "vindicated its patent rights," adding, "Taction waited five and a half years for this case to get to trial, so it was a long time coming."

Burford Capital's role

Discovery in the case showed Taction's litigation was financed by outside funders Gronostaj Investments LLC and Kenosha Investments LP, according to Bloomberg Law and Law Commentary. Kenosha has been identified in separate litigation as an indirect subsidiary of litigation finance company Burford Capital Ltd, which provides financing in exchange for a financial interest in legal claims, per those same reports. The Next Web notes that such funders typically pay the costs of a lawsuit in return for a share of any resulting damages, though the specific percentage due to Burford-linked entities from this award was not disclosed in the reporting reviewed.

Shares of Burford Capital (BUR) climbed 9.8% in Monday afternoon trading following the verdict for its client, according to Seeking Alpha.

Bottom Line

A San Diego jury has handed Taction Technology a verdict of more than $5.7 billion against Apple over Taptic Engine haptics patents, a figure reported as the largest patent damages award a U.S. jury has ever returned. The finding of non-willful infringement forecloses enhanced damages, but the award itself still faces post-trial review before Judge Robinson and a planned Apple appeal to the Federal Circuit, meaning the final financial outcome remains unresolved.