San Diego jury finds Apple owes more than $5.7 billion; Apple says it will appeal

A federal jury in San Diego found on Friday, 25 September 2026, that Apple infringed patents held by Taction Technology Inc. The patents cover vibration-based technology incorporated in models of iPhones and Apple Watches. Bloomberg Law reported that the jury found Apple owes over $5.7 billion. Patent Litigator reported the award as $5,721,961,750, and described that figure as $5.72 billion. Both sums are the awards those outlets reported. Patent Litigator reported that the court's docket does not yet show an entered judgment. The sums in this report are the jury's award as those outlets stated it. They are not a recorded payment.

Jurors in the US District Court for the Southern District of California spent parts of two days before the finding, Bloomberg Law reported. They found that Apple infringed claims from two Taction haptics patents, US Patent Nos. 10,659,885 and 10,820,117. Patent Litigator identified the claims as claims 17 and 19 of the first patent and claim 16 of the second. Both accounts say the jury found the infringement was not willful. Patent Litigator reported that the court's minute entry records the verdict for Taction on Apple's invalidity defenses.

The case is Taction Tech. Inc. v. Apple Inc., No. 3:21-cv-00812. Bloomberg Law dated the verdict 25 September 2026. Taction sued Apple in 2021. The suit targeted Apple's Taptic Engine. Apple says the engine provides users of its products with tactile feedback to simulate actions, such as clicks. Bloomberg Law reported that both patents describe "tactile transducers that produce bass frequency vibrations" perceptible by touch.

Taction's lawyer, Tigran Guledjian of Quinn Emanuel, said: "We're happy the jury found for Taction and vindicated its patent rights." He said Taction "waited five and a half years for this case to get to trial, so it was a long time coming." Bloomberg Law published those comments with the verdict report.

Apple thanked the jury. In the statement Bloomberg Law reported, the company said it strongly disagreed with "today's verdict and the damages awarded, which are entirely unsupported by the facts." Apple said the "Taptic Engine is fundamentally different from Taction's technology, which Taction's own testing of Apple's products confirmed during trial." The company said: "Apple does not use Taction's technology, and we will appeal."

Bloomberg Law reported the route to trial. Apple persuaded the judge to dismiss the case in 2023. The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit revived the suit last year. The court ruled that the dismissal turned on an unwritten requirement that improperly prevented Taction from using certain expert testimony. Patent Litigator described the same step as the Federal Circuit vacating a 2023 summary judgment for Apple, after which the case went to trial.

Bloomberg Law reported that discovery showed Taction received financing from Gronostaj Investments LLC and Kenosha Investments LP. Kenosha was identified in separate litigation as an indirect subsidiary of Burford Capital Ltd. Bloomberg Law described the litigation as fierce, including Apple's efforts to examine Taction's connections to Burford. The verdict accounts here do not list that financing as a question the jury decided.

Bloomberg Law named the lawyers in the case. Apple is represented by Fish & Richardson; Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe; Walker Stevens Cannom LLP; and Goldman Ismail Tomaselli Brennan & Baum LLP. Kenosha and Gronostaj are represented by Singer Cashman LLP.

What's next

Apple has said it will appeal. The reports used here do not say a notice of appeal has been filed. Patent Litigator reported that an entered judgment is not yet on the docket. The $5.7 billion and $5,721,961,750 figures are the awards as Bloomberg Law and Patent Litigator stated them.