A federal jury in San Diego awarded Taction Technology more than $5.7 billion on Sept. 25 after finding that Apple’s Taptic Engine, which produces tapping vibrations in iPhones and Apple Watches, infringed two of its patents.
Taction filed the lawsuit in 2021, and the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California ruled in Apple’s favor in 2023. The Federal Circuit vacated that judgment in August 2025, finding errors in the exclusion of Taction’s expert testimony and the interpretation of the patent claims.
Apple intends to appeal the decision and said, “We strongly disagree with today’s verdict and the damages awarded, which are entirely unsupported by the facts,” in a statement to CNBC. It said Apple’s Taptic Engine is “fundamentally different” from Taction’s own technology.
Reuters described the $5.7 billion award as the largest U.S. verdict of its kind. Such awards can change after trial: a $2.75 billion patent award against Cisco in 2020 was overturned in 2022 because the judge’s wife owned Cisco stock. A different judge ruled in 2023 that Cisco had not infringed Centripetal Networks’ patents
Taction Technology was issued the two haptic feedback patents in 2020, but alleges that Apple reverse engineered its technology before the patents were granted. In court documents, Taction says Apple gained access to, or reverse engineered, the haptic feedback technology through its Kannon gaming headsets.
Apple’s planned appeal leaves the final outcome — and how much it ultimately pays — unresolved.
Apple’s other legal challenges
The patent damages award adds to Apple’s legal challenges, but it is separate from the competition disputes involving its App Store in Europe.
Another major case involves an antitrust ruling by the UK’s Competition Appeal Tribunal, which found against the iPhone maker in a case concerning its 30 percent cut on app sales and in-app purchases, with potential damages of £1.5 billion ($1.98 billion). Apple is appealing the UK ruling. In a separate case, the Italian Competition Authority fined Apple €98.6 million (about $116 million at the time) in December 2025 over restrictions associated with its App Tracking Transparency policy.
Separately, the European Commission fined Apple €500 million in April 2025 for breaching the Digital Markets Act’s anti-steering rules, which require Apple to let developers direct customers to alternative offers outside the App Store
Expansion of products opens the door to more patent trials
Apple is reportedly preparing for a major hardware push over the next two years, stepping into several new product categories. This could open the door to more patent litigation for the company, especially as it moves into leading-edge markets such as smart glasses and AI.
Apple’s wearable ambitions also face technical and regulatory hurdles. Its work on blood sugar tracking remains unconfirmed for a future Apple Watch, with no announced launch window
For businesses buying iPhones and Apple Watches, the current reporting describes a damages verdict rather than a sales ban or required product change. The next development to watch is whether Apple’s challenge changes the infringement finding or the award
Read more: Apple’s legal battles extend beyond patents, with Musk’s companies moving to drop Apple from an AI antitrust lawsuit while continuing their case against OpenAI.