A US federal jury has ordered Apple to pay $5.7 billion (£4.3bn) in damages to Taction Technologies for infringing two of its patents on haptic feedback technology in devices such as the iPhone.

Taction sued Apple in 2021 in the US District Court for the Southern District of California, saying that Apple’s Taptic Engine technology improperly capitalised on Taction’s technical developments.

Apple introduced the Taptic Engine with the Apple Watch in 2014, and has expanded the vibration feedback system since then.

Jury verdict

Taction, whose technology is licensed to makers of music and gaming headphones, said newer developments in the Taptic Engine infringed its US patents numbered 10,659,885 and 10,820,117, which both involve vibration-based tactile transducer technology.

A district court judge initially dismissed the case in 2023, but Taction appealed and the case was taken up by a federal appeals circuit, resulting in a jury trial that began on 14 September in Southern California district court.

The jury verdict, delivered on 25 September, found in Taction’s favour, but did not find Apple’s infringement wilful.

Legal claims

Apple has a history of developing as much of its technology as possible in-house, which has resulted in legal claims from a number of third-party developers.

In November 2025, a judge ordered Apple to pay $634m to medical technology firm Masimo following a jury trial that found Apple Watches infringed Masimo patents for monitoring blood oxygen levels.

Certain models of the Apple Watch were barred from import to the US following the ruling, but a judge in March found a redesigned version of the feature didn’t infringe Masimo’s patents.