Apple Asks a Judge to Throw Out the $5.7 Billion Taction Patent Verdict

Apple has asked a US federal judge to overturn a $5.7 billion jury verdict over the Taptic Engine, the part that makes iPhones and Apple Watches vibrate. Apple filed a post-trial motion on Tuesday, 13 October 2026, according to 9to5Mac and Law360.

This is a request to the trial judge, not an appeal. No final judgment has been entered yet, 9to5Mac reports.

The verdict

Last month a jury ordered Apple to pay $5.7 billion for infringing two patents held by Taction Technology, 9to5Mac reports. In its motion, Apple calls the award “the largest patent verdict in history, by more than $3 billion,” according to 9to5Mac.

What Apple is asking for

Law360 reports that Apple asked the judge to “wipe out” the award or order a new trial, calling it “shocking” and “untethered to any evidence at all.”

According to 9to5Mac, Apple argues that Taction never showed how much its patented technology was worth. That left jurors, the motion says, “with no choice but to engage in impermissible guesswork on a massive scale.” Apple also says one of Taction’s technical experts relied on a “rigged” test to show infringement.

Apple is asking the court to rule that Taction gets no damages, that Apple did not infringe and that the patents are invalid. As a fallback, it wants a new trial on infringement, validity and damages.

9to5Mac also reports that, according to Apple’s motion, the judge said before the award was read that he was “not sure that the figure that appears on the verdict form is what the jury meant to convey.”

What this means

• The fight is not over. The judge can uphold the award, overturn it or order a new trial.
• An appeal could still follow. Apple has said it plans to appeal, but this filing is not that appeal.
• The amount is huge. Apple says it is the largest patent verdict ever, by more than $3 billion.

Sources

1. 9to5Mac, “Apple challenges Taction’s $5.7B patent verdict, says damages were based on ‘guesswork'”, 14 October 2026. https://9to5mac.com/2026/10/13/apple-challenges-tactions-5-7b-patent-verdict-says-damages-were-based-on-guesswork/
2. Law360, “Apple Urges Judge To Toss ‘Shocking’ $5.7B Patent Verdict”, Hailey Konnath, 13 October 2026. https://www.law360.com/articles/2537566/apple-urges-judge-to-toss-shocking-5-7b-patent-verdict

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