Story perspectives

Apple Ordered to Pay $5.72B in Haptics Patent Case

By Drooid · Sep 29, 2026, 2:20 AM UTC · How we work

Summary

Story summary

A U.S. federal jury ordered Apple to pay $5,721,961,750 for infringing two haptic patents.
The patents are U.S. Patent Nos. 10,659,885 and 10,820,117 covering tactile transducer technology.
Taction Technology, a San Diego haptics firm, sued Apple in 2021 over the Taptic Engine.
Apple says its Taptic Engine is fundamentally different and plans to appeal the verdict.
The award is the largest U.S. patent damages verdict in history.

History

Historical Context

On July 23 1998 the Federal Circuit’s State Street Bank v. Signature Financial decision held that a computer-implemented method producing a “useful, concrete and tangible result” was patent-eligible, sparking a wave of business-method patents. Although the 2008 Bilski ruling and later Alice decision curtailed that scope, the precedent still underpins high-stakes suits such as Taction Technology’s $5.72 billion verdict against Apple.

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Story summary

A U.S. federal jury ordered Apple to pay $5,721,961,750 for infringing two haptic patents.
The patents are U.S. Patent Nos. 10,659,885 and 10,820,117 covering tactile transducer technology.
Taction Technology, a San Diego haptics firm, sued Apple in 2021 over the Taptic Engine.
Apple says its Taptic Engine is fundamentally different and plans to appeal the verdict.
The award is the largest U.S. patent damages verdict in history.

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