Apple Ordered to Pay $5.7 Billion in Haptic Patent Dispute
AI-generated image · US National Wire
A San Diego jury finds Apple's Taptic Engine infringed on Taction's vibration-based technology.
A federal jury in San Diego has awarded haptics company Taction more than $5.7 billion in damages after finding that Apple infringed on two of the company's patents, The Verge reports.
Taction originally filed the lawsuit in 2021. According to reporting from CNBC cited by The Verge, the legal battle focused on U.S. Patent Nos. 10,659,885 and 10,820,117. These patents cover tactile transducer technology that utilizes vibrations to provide users with physical feedback when interacting with a device. Taction alleged that Apple integrated this technology into the Taptic Engine used in iPhones and Apple Watches without securing a proper license.
While the jury agreed that Apple infringed on two claims in one patent and one claim in the other, they did not find that the infringement was willful. Taction had further alleged that Apple reverse-engineered the technology using two Kannon gaming headsets.
Apple has stated that it plans to appeal the verdict.