Apple Slapped with Record $5.72 Billion Patent Infringement Verdict

Apple Inc. has suffered the largest patent infringement verdict in US history, losing $5.72 billion to Taction Technology Inc., a small company founded by an audiophile and 'technogeek'. The case was one of David vs Goliath, with Apple boasting over $416 billion in revenue in 2022 compared to Taction's modest corporate address at a San Diego UPS store.

Taction alleged that vibration-based technology used in iPhones and Apple Watches infringed its patents. Plaintiff-side patent lawyer Erick Robinson said the verdict was 'a record amount by a wide margin', more than double the previous largest award of $2.54 billion in 2016 in a pharmaceutical patent suit between Merck & Co. subsidiary Idenix Pharmaceuticals and Gilead Sciences Inc.

Lyubomir Uzunov, of Patent Watch, said 'society broadly wants big tech to pay' and that this sentiment is reflected in the courts' behavior. He predicted a 'new era of patent damages'. Taction received litigation financing from Burford Capital Ltd., which would be entitled to $1.4 billion if the verdict amount were paid.

However, several observers questioned the verdict's legitimacy, with Tamlin Bason of Bloomberg Intelligence saying it was 'so far outside the expected range that it seems highly unlikely to stick'. Apple plans to file post-trial challenges in the US District Court for the Southern District of California and, if unsuccessful, an appeal to the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.