Apple challenges $5.7 billion patent verdict

• Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) has asked a federal judge to overturn a $5.7 billion patent infringement verdict awarded to Taction Technology over haptic feedback technology used in Apple devices.
• The company argued that the jury award was unsupported by evidence and called the damages figure disconnected from the trial record.
• The verdict, issued in September, was the largest patent verdict in U.S. history by more than $3 billion, according to court filings.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) has asked a federal judge in San Diego to overturn a $5.7 billion patent verdict won by Taction Technology over haptic feedback technology used in Apple’s iPhones and Apple Watches.

In a filing on Tuesday, Apple argued that the verdict was “untethered to any evidence at all” and that there was insufficient support for the damages awarded.

A jury found on September 25 that Apple’s Taptic Engine, the technology responsible for producing tapping vibrations in devices, infringed two patents owned by Taction Technology.

Taction Technology filed the lawsuit in 2021, alleging that Apple’s haptic feedback technology violated its patented inventions.

Apple also cited comments from U.S. District Judge Todd Robinson before the verdict was read, saying the judge indicated uncertainty about whether the damages figure presented on the verdict form reflected what the jury intended.

The company is seeking to have the verdict overturned, while Taction Technology has not yet publicly responded to the request.

Several previous U.S. patent verdicts exceeding $1 billion have been reduced or overturned during post-trial proceedings.

The case is Taction Technology v. Apple Inc., U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California, No. 3:21-cv-00812.