Apple Hit With $5.7 Billion Damages in Haptics Patent Case
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What happened
A federal jury in San Diego on Friday awarded Taction Technology more than $5.7 billion in damages after finding that Apple infringed two patents on vibration-based tactile transducer technology. Taction, a San Diego company that uses that technology in headphones and gaming headsets, sued Apple in 2021 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California, alleging that Apple’s Taptic Engine in iPhones and Apple Watches used its inventions without a license. A San Diego federal judge dismissed the case in 2023 after finding Apple did not infringe; the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit later revived it. The trial began September 14; after two days of deliberation, seven jurors found infringement of two claims in one patent and one claim in the other (U.S. Patent Nos. 10,659,885 and 10,820,117) but did not find the infringement willful. Apple said it does not use Taction’s technology and will appeal.
Sourcing check · Mostly on the record · 2 articles
1 of 2 articles cite a named source for the story. It was on the record from the first report.
What these terms mean and how they're counted
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- Primary evidence · cites a document or data 2 of 2
- Primary evidence means the article cites a record you could check yourself: a court filing or ruling, a dataset or report, a recording or transcript, an official statement or press release, market data. A quote is not a document. The count is how many articles cite one. Here: court verdict
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Omitted — what each side leaves out
Unpacked
Right-leaning coverage leaves out a limit the jury itself wrote into the verdict, one that left-leaning coverage reports: the infringement was not found willful. Without that limit, the award reads as a finding that Apple copied on purpose rather than a narrower call that two patents were used and a fee is due. The no-willfulness result appears in left-leaning coverage at CNBC. It is missing from the NY Post account, which still reports the infringement finding and the payout.
Verbs do the framing work on an award both sides note Apple will appeal. Right-leaning coverage at the NY Post says Apple "owes" the money. Left-leaning coverage at CNBC says Apple "faces" a patent infringement verdict.
What unit sales or royalty rate produced the award?
Bottom line
You would not know from NY Post that Apple's $5.7 billion haptics verdict came without a willfulness finding, a limit CNBC puts in the story.
The receipts — 3 facts one side's coverage lacks
- The jury did not find Apple's infringement willful
- The award is described as the country's largest such verdict to date
- Taction accused Apple of reverse-engineering the technology from two Kannon gaming headsets
The Left View
CNBC and The Verge framed the verdict as a finding that Apple’s Taptic Engine used Taction’s haptic inventions without a license. CNBC foregrounded Taction’s allegation that Apple was improperly “capitalizing on Taction’s innovation and success” by selling the accused devices. The Verge emphasized Taction’s accusation that Apple reverse-engineered the technology from two Kannon gaming headsets, and that the jury agreed the Taptic Engine used technology Taction had developed.
The Right View
The New York Post cast the outcome as a “record $5.7 billion” award and “the country’s largest such verdict to date,” while giving Apple’s rebuttal prominent play. It quoted Apple saying the Taptic Engine is “fundamentally different from Taction’s technology, which Taction’s own testing of Apple’s products confirmed during trial,” and that Apple “does not use Taction’s technology.” The Post also noted Apple’s position that the patents were invalid, and quoted Taction attorney Lance Yang saying the jury had “vindicated its patent rights.”
Our Take (balanced)
The left-leaning coverage’s strongest argument is the jury’s infringement finding after a full trial, which those outlets tied to Taction’s claim that Apple reverse-engineered haptic technology and was “capitalizing on Taction’s innovation.” The right-leaning coverage’s strongest argument is Apple’s contention — which Apple said Taction’s own product testing at trial confirmed — that the Taptic Engine is “fundamentally different,” reinforced by the 2023 trial-court finding of no infringement and the jury’s refusal to find willfulness. The central unresolved tension is whether Apple’s haptic hardware actually practices Taction’s patents or is a distinct design: a question one judge and the jury answered differently, now headed to appeal with a record damages figure attached.
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