Published : 28 Sep 2026, 08:27 PM
Updated : 28 Sep 2026, 08:25 PM
Apple has been ordered to pay $5.7 billion in damages after a US jury found the tech giant had used a smaller firm's patented vibration technology without authorisation.
Audio company Taction Technology filed the lawsuit in 2021, arguing that improvements Apple made to its Taptic Engine -- the haptics system built into the iPhone and Apple Watch -- infringed two of its patents issued in 2020, BBC reports.
Haptics technology enables the touch-based feedback users feel when receiving a message or pressing a virtual button.
The case had a winding path through the courts. A San Diego judge initially ruled in Apple's favour in 2023, finding no infringement.
But a federal appeals court took up the matter, leading to a fresh jury trial at the US District Court for the Southern District of California, which found in Taction's favour on Friday.
Jurors did not find that Apple had infringed the patents wilfully.
Apple said it strongly disagreed with the verdict and planned to appeal.
"Apple's Taptic Engine is fundamentally different from Taction's technology, which Taction's own testing of Apple's products confirmed during trial," a spokesperson said, according to BBC.
The ruling adds to a growing list of patent defeats for Apple. In November 2025, a judge ordered the company to pay $634 million to medical technology firm Masimo over blood-oxygen sensor patents in the Apple Watch.
