Abstract:
A federal jury in San Diego ruled on Friday that Apple infringed on Taxon Technology's patents and must pay more than $5.7 billion in damages. The patent involved is vibration-related technology used in iPhone and Apple Watch products. After a partial two-day trial, a jury in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California found that Apple infringed on the claims of two Tuxedo haptic feedback patents (Patent Nos.: U.S. Patent Nos. 10659885 and 10820117), but the infringement was not intentional.
It was disclosed during the discovery stage of the case that the funding for this case in Taxyun came from Gronostaj Investments LLC and Kenosha Investments LP. In another lawsuit, the latter was identified as an indirect subsidiary of Burford Capital.
This lawsuit is fiercely contested, and Apple has tried to expose the connection between Taxyun and this large litigation financing institution.
Takshay sued Apple for infringement of its patents in 2021. Both patents describe "tactile transducers that can generate low-frequency vibrations and can be sensed by touch."
In 2023, Apple successfully persuaded the judge to dismiss the case. But the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reinstated the lawsuit last year, ruling that an unwritten requirement that originally dismissed the case improperly deprived Taxon of the right to use some expert testimony.
The law firm of Quinn Emanuel is serving as the attorney for Taxson. Law firms representing Apple include Fish Richardson, Orrick LLP, Walker Stevens Cannon, and Goldman Sachs Ismael Tomaselli Brennan Baum. Kenosha and Gronostai are represented by Singer Cashman LLP.
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