A U.S. jury has ordered Apple to pay $5.72 billion in damages for patent infringement. The court found that the Taptic Engine components in iPhones and Apple Watches violated two patents held by San Diego-based Taction Technology, specifically U.S. Patent Nos. 10,659,885 and 10,820,117.
The verdict, delivered in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California, is reported as the largest patent infringement award in U.S. history. The jury determined that the infringement was not willful. Taction Technology originally filed the lawsuit against Apple in 2021, alleging the unauthorized use of its tactile transducer technology.
Apple has formally announced its intention to appeal the decision. The company maintains that its Taptic Engine technology is fundamentally different from the patents in question and stated that the awarded damages are unsupported by facts. Apple previously won a summary judgment in 2023, but the case was revived by the Federal Circuit in August 2025.
The current verdict remains subject to post-trial motions and further judicial review. While the jury has sided with Taction, the final judgment has not yet been entered on the court docket. The legal process is expected to continue through federal courts as Apple challenges both the validity of the patents and the scale of the financial award.
