Blake Brittain (PDF, patent 1, patent 2, Hacker News, 9To5Mac):

A US jury ruled that Apple owes San Diego-based Taction ​more than $5.7 billion for using its patented technology to power the haptic feedback in iPhones and Apple Watches. Apple said it would ​appeal the country’s largest such verdict to ​date.

[…]

Apple denied the allegations and ​said the patents were invalid.

neuropsychguy:

Taction Technologies has real products (used in various headphones) -- in case anyone is wondering about whether the company is only a patent troll.

[…]

What’s complicated about this case is that Apple developed the Taptic Engine before Taction filed its original patent application. Apple’s original Taptic Engine was different from what Taction later patented. However, Apple subsequently redesigned the Taptic Engine, and those later designs incorporated a combination of suspensions and ferrofluid damping that a jury (in California -- this isn’t in Texas) has now found fall within Taction’s patent claims.

Malcolm Owen:

In effect, the jury says that Taction has proven Apple has infringed, but not that Apple did so knowingly.

[…]

Apple was accused of buying and reverse-engineering two Kannon headsets that used the technology.

The $5.7 billion seems so high compared with the $634 million in the Masimo case where Apple seemed a lot more guilty.

Previously:

• Apple Loses Masimo Appeal

By Alius Noreika Key takeaways The question comes up in almost every firm that has started experimenting with

Marcus Mendes:

Apple’s requests to overturn a $634 million patent verdict and secure a new trial in its long-running legal battle with Masimo were denied.

Wesley Hilliard:

There doesn’t appear to be any other path for appeal or recourse, as the judge rejected both requests for either a new judgement or trial.

[…]

In the end, Masimo didn’t succeed in getting the Apple Watch banned or fundamentally redesigned. It won an empty victory with the funds it will be paid, and the patents affecting the lawsuit will expire in 2028 and 2029 anyway.

Paul Terpstra:

Although the ruling confirms the financial penalty, it does not affect current Apple Watch users. The smartwatch’s blood oxygen monitoring feature remains available after Apple introduced a software update in January 2024 that allowed sales to continue despite earlier legal challenges.

Previously:

• Apple Sues OpenAI Over Trade Secrets
• John Ternus Replaces Tim Cook
• Danaher to Buy Masimo
• Apple Loses Blood Oxygen Patent Case
• The Return of Blood Oxygen for Apple Watch
• Apple Watch Sales Paused Over Masimo Patent
• Masimo v. Apple

The United States is one of only a handful of countries that allows companies to hold patents on plant varieties. As a result, a small number of corporations can—and do—suppress competition in the seed industry, stifle innovation, and turn taxpayer subsidies intended for farmers into corporate profits.

The US Department of Agriculture has found that two companies control more than 70 percent of US corn and soybean seed sales, and the top four cottonseed companies control nearly 94 percent of that market.

In a May 2026 court filing in a legal dispute between two US seed companies, the Department of Justice said patents on seeds are obstructing competition and research in the agriculture industry.

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