Overview
On September 25, in Taction Technology, Inc. v. Apple Inc., a jury in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California returned a verdict in favor of Taction on infringement and rejected Apple’s invalidity defense. The jury awarded Taction $5.72 billion in damages, the largest patent damages verdict in U.S. history.
Five-Year Legal Backstory
Taction filed a lawsuit for patent infringement on April 26, 2021, alleging that Apple’s “Taptic Engine” in the iPhone and Apple Watch products infringed Taction’s U.S. Patent Nos. 10,659,885 and 10,820,117. The patents are directed to enhanced haptics that lessen, or damp, undesired vibrations in headphones while enabling better tactile feedback, improving the overall user experience. Taction alleged that Apple’s updated Taptic Engine incorporated its patented ferrofluid damping and flexure-based designs. Taction sought injunctive relief, damages, and enhanced damages for alleged egregious willful infringement. Apple denied all allegations of infringement and willfulness. Although Apple initially prevailed in 2023 when the court granted summary judgment of noninfringement, the Federal Circuit revived and remanded the case in August 2025. Ultimately, the case proceeded to a jury trial.
Jury Trial
At trial, the parties sharply disagreed on both liability and damages. Taction argued that Apple’s products met every limitation of the asserted claims and presented evidence that Apple adopted ferrofluid damping, relied heavily on haptic functionality, and used the accused technology across numerous iPhone and Apple Watch generations. Taction further asserted that damages could be determined from evidence including a comparable license, component costs, and the value of haptics to Apple products.
Apple countered that the accused products depend on resonance and are under damped. Apple also challenged that the claims are invalid for being obvious, not described or enabled, and indefinite. With respect to damages, Apple argued that Taction lacked an admissible apportionment analysis and that the jury could not calculate a reasonable royalty without speculation.
Despite the arguments above and competing Motions for Judgment as a Matter of Law under Rule 50(a) filed on September 23, 2026, the jury returned a verdict in favor of Taction’s infringement case and rejected Apple’s validity challenges. The jury also found that Apple’s infringement was not willful.
What’s Next
Following the verdict, the court set an October 16, 2026, deadline for post-trial motions seeking judgment as a matter of law or a new trial, indicating that further challenges were expected. Apple has already announced plans to appeal. The verdict will likely face scrutiny over the damages theories and the rejection of Apple’s invalidity challenges. Stay tuned to see whether this landmark verdict will stand.
For more information on this topic, please contact Fitch Even associate Lindsay Boehme, author of this alert.
Fitch Even IP Alert®
Lindsay Boehme, Ph.D.
Lindsay Boehme, Ph.D., is a skilled Technical Writer with expertise in patent application preparation and prosecution across a range of scientific and engineering disciplines. Her work draws on more than a decade of experience in chemical engineering, materials science, and electrochemical technology development.