A federal jury has found that Apple infringed two Taction Technology patents in the Taptic Engine, the haptic part that taps your wrist on an Apple Watch, Reuters reported. The jury set the damages at $5,721,961,750.
The jury found Apple infringed two claims in one patent and one claim in the other. It did not find that Apple infringed willfully, so it wasn't ruled a knowing copy. Apple also tried to show all three claims were invalid. It lost on every one.
Apple says it doesn't use Taction's technology and will appeal. Taction's attorney, Lance Yang, said the company was happy the jury vindicated its patent rights.
The part itself goes back to the first Apple Watch in 2014. Instead of a spinning vibration motor, it used a linear resonant actuator, which gave Apple fine control over the moving mass. That's how the watch can buzz, tap, or mimic a heartbeat. It's also what confirms a button press and nudges you when a message arrives. Apple later put the same idea in the iPhone.
Taction sued in April 2021. Its case says Apple's early Taptic Engines used coil springs and a central locating rod to control the moving mass inside, and that newer designs switched to flexures with ferrofluid doing the same job. It also accused Apple of buying two Kannon headsets that used Taction's technology and taking them apart.
A San Diego federal judge ruled in 2023 that Apple did not infringe. The Federal Circuit appeals court revived the case in 2025, and a jury has now gone the other way.