{"id":2000127381,"date":"2026-09-28T14:38:08","date_gmt":"2026-09-28T12:38:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/?p=2000127381"},"modified":"2026-09-28T14:38:10","modified_gmt":"2026-09-28T12:38:10","slug":"apple-ordered-to-pay-5-7bn-in-vibration-technology-patent-dispute","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/apple-ordered-to-pay-5-7bn-in-vibration-technology-patent-dispute\/","title":{"rendered":"Apple ordered to pay $5.7bn in vibration technology patent dispute"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The verdict was delivered on September 25 at the US District Court for the Southern District of California, following a trial over Apple’s use of vibration technology in its iPhones and Apple Watches. The jury awarded Taction $5.72 billion in damages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The dispute centres on Apple’s Taptic Engine, a system that provides physical feedback when users interact with devices, including through taps and vibrations for notifications and other actions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Taction, a San Diego-based company that develops haptic technology for products including headphones and gaming headsets, sued Apple in 2021. It alleged that Apple’s devices incorporated technology covered by two of its patents without a licence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The patents, issued in 2020, cover systems designed to generate vibrations that users can feel through touch. Taction argued that Apple’s use of the technology in its devices amounted to infringement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Apple has rejected the allegations and maintained that its Taptic Engine is fundamentally different from Taction’s technology. The company said it would appeal the verdict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The jury found that Apple had infringed the patents but did not determine that the infringement was wilful. That finding is significant because it means the damages cannot simply be increased on the basis of deliberate infringement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The case has gone through several stages before reaching the jury. A federal judge ruled in Apple’s favour in 2023, effectively ending the case at that stage. Taction appealed, and the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit later revived the dispute, allowing it to proceed to trial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The trial began in September, with jurors considering whether Apple’s Taptic Engine infringed the two patents and, if so, the appropriate damages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Taction’s lead counsel, Lance Yang, welcomed the verdict, saying the company had waited more than five years for the case to reach trial. Apple, however, disputed both the infringement finding and the amount awarded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The $5.7 billion award is subject to further legal challenges. Apple can seek post-trial relief and appeal the judgment through the federal court system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The case adds to a series of patent disputes involving Apple and other technology companies over features used in its devices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
The dispute centres on Apple’s Taptic Engine, a system that provides physical feedback when users interact with devices, including through taps and vibrations for notifications and other actions.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Apple has been ordered to pay more than $5.7 billion (about Rwf8.4 trillion) after a US federal jury found that its technology for producing vibrations in devices infringed two patents held by Taction Technology.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":131,"featured_media":2000127382,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[151],"byline":[192],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-2000127381","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-science-technology","tag-editors-choice","byline-wycliffe-nyamasege"],"bylines":[{"id":192,"name":"Wycliffe Nyamasege","slug":"wycliffe-nyamasege","description":"","image":{"id":2000122456,"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-08-14-at-11.58.47-AM.jpeg","title":"WhatsApp Image 2026-08-14 at 11.58.47 AM","mime_type":"image\/jpeg"},"user_id":131}],"contributors":[{"id":192,"name":"Wycliffe Nyamasege","slug":"wycliffe-nyamasege","description":"","image":{"id":2000122456,"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-08-14-at-11.58.47-AM.jpeg","title":"WhatsApp Image 2026-08-14 at 11.58.47 AM","mime_type":"image\/jpeg"},"user_id":131}],"featured_image":{"id":2000127382,"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/09\/1417847_8207623_the-news-2026-09-27T183839_343_updates.jpg","alt":"","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":700,"height":400,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/09\/1417847_8207623_the-news-2026-09-27T183839_343_updates.jpg","width":700,"height":400},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/09\/1417847_8207623_the-news-2026-09-27T183839_343_updates.jpg","width":700,"height":400},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/09\/1417847_8207623_the-news-2026-09-27T183839_343_updates.jpg","width":700,"height":400},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/09\/1417847_8207623_the-news-2026-09-27T183839_343_updates.jpg","width":700,"height":400},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/09\/1417847_8207623_the-news-2026-09-27T183839_343_updates.jpg","width":700,"height":400}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000127381","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/131"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2000127381"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000127381\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2000127383,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000127381\/revisions\/2000127383"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000127382"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2000127381"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2000127381"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2000127381"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=2000127381"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=2000127381"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}