patent

A federal jury in San Diego, USA, ruled on Friday that Apple must pay over $5.7 billion in damages for using patented technology from the haptic patent company Taction Technology, according to Caixin. This is the highest patent compensation amount in U.S. history. Taction sued Apple in 2021, claiming that its sales of devices infringing on touch technology improperly utilized related innovations; the case was dismissed in 2023 but was later reinstated by the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals.Apple issued a statement strongly opposing the verdict and the amount of damages, stating that the ruling lacks factual basis. Apple stated that its haptic engine is fundamentally different from Taction's technology, and tests conducted during the trial confirmed this, asserting that it did not use Taction's technology and would appeal. Taction's chief attorney, Lance Yang, thanked the jury and mentioned that the company waited five and a half years for the case to go to trial.The core of the lawsuit revolves around two vibration-based haptic sensor technologies designed to allow users to perceive the device's response to input. Taction claims that Apple’s haptic engine in the Apple Watch and iPhone used its inventions without authorization. Apple's haptic engine was launched in 2014 with the Apple Watch and was used in the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus the following year, replacing the older vibration motors. Since Apple insists on appealing, the amount of damages will need to be determined first by the presiding judge before entering the appeals process for final confirmation.

A federal jury in San Diego, California, ruled that Apple Inc. infringed on Taction Technology's vibration technology patent and must pay over $5.7 billion in damages.The patent involves the haptic feedback feature of the iPhone and Apple Watch. Apple stated that it would appeal, emphasizing that its Taptic Engine differs from Taction's technology.

Qualcomm (QCOM.O) announced the renewal of its global patent licensing agreement with Apple (AAPL.O).

On September 16, local time, the United States International Trade Commission (ITC) announced that it has launched a patent infringement investigation into certain electronic devices equipped with specific audio technology. The subjects of the investigation include Samsung Electronics and its U.S. subsidiaries, Apple Inc., and Google LLC. The initiation of the investigation itself does not constitute a determination of patent infringement.The investigation is based on a complaint submitted by BoomCloud 360 Inc. on August 14 and supplemented on August 31. The complainant alleges that the relevant devices infringe its patents when imported into and sold in the United States, violating Section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930, and requests that the ITC issue a limited exclusion order and a cease-and-desist order.The case will be assigned to an administrative law judge for a hearing on the evidence, which will make a preliminary determination on whether Section 337 has been violated, followed by a final decision after review by the ITC. The ITC will set a target date for completing the investigation within 45 days of the filing. The relief order will take effect immediately and become a final order after 60 days, unless the U.S. Trade Representative disapproves it for policy reasons within 60 days.

According to The Information, OpenAI has acquired some patent assets from the AI chip startup Rain AI, after the two parties previously negotiated the acquisition but ultimately failed to complete the deal.Rain AI is a startup focused on the development of AI chips, founded about 8 years ago, with investors including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Reports indicate that due to the failure of the acquisition plan, Rain AI has nearly ceased operations recently, and most employees have left the company.This patent acquisition shows that although some companies personally invested in by Altman may have commercial collaborations with OpenAI, this does not mean that all invested enterprises will receive direct support from OpenAI.Rain AI was previously dedicated to developing specialized chips for artificial intelligence computing, hoping to reduce the operating costs of AI models through customized hardware and enhance edge computing capabilities. As competition in AI infrastructure intensifies, chips, computing power, and energy have become core strategic resources for large AI companies.Industry insiders believe that OpenAI's acquisition of Rain AI's related patents may be aimed at absorbing its technological assets and strengthening its layout in the field of AI hardware and computing infrastructure.

According to a report by Fortune, stablecoin issuer Circle announced the acquisition of nearly 1,000 blockchain-related patents from IBM. Circle officially characterized this acquisition as an important measure to "advance the global internet-native financial infrastructure." Following the announcement, the company's stock price rose by about 2%.However, analysts are cautious about this acquisition—IBM's own blockchain business has essentially declared failure, and its patent portfolio reflects more of a patent application technique rather than true technological innovation.There are concerns that Circle may use this batch of patents to initiate lawsuits against competitors, collect patent licensing fees, or pressure startups, and it is also possible that they could transfer them to patent troll companies for extortion-style protection.

According to BBX data, yesterday global publicly listed companies in the U.S. disclosed the latest real data on digital asset treasury construction, technology patent acquisitions, and on-chain ecological positioning. The core dynamics are as follows:Strive's total Bitcoin holdings officially surpassed 20,000 coins: According to Strive (NASDAQ: $ASST)'s latest 8-K filing submitted to the U.S. SEC, the company purchased 79 Bitcoins at an average price of approximately $65,723 between July 20 and July 24, 2026. As of July 24, Strive's total Bitcoin holdings officially reached 20,000 coins. In addition, the company's balance sheet also holds 505,000 shares of Strategy STRC preferred stock (fair value approximately $43.88 million) and about $154 million in cash, ensuring ample liquidity.Circle (NYSE: $CRCL) acquires IBM's core blockchain patent portfolio: Circle Internet Group officially announced the completion of its acquisition of the core assets of IBM's blockchain patent portfolio, covering over 680 patent families and nearly 1,000 granted patents across fields such as blockchain infrastructure, financial services, supply chain, and secure cloud operations. This acquisition makes Circle the company with the most blockchain patents in the U.S., and the patent library will fully empower the construction of on-chain infrastructures such as USDC, Circle Payments Network, and Arc. The two parties will also engage in deep commercial cooperation in the future.BitMine increased its holdings by nearly 10,000 ETH last week, with treasury staking revenue reaching $254 million: Bitmine Immersion Technologies (NYSE: $BMNR) disclosed that it increased its holdings by 9,946 Ethereum last week. As of July 26, 2026, its Ethereum holdings rose to 5,787,414 ETH (approximately 4.8% of the total circulating supply). Currently, the total value of the cryptocurrencies, cash, and equity held by the company is approximately $11.8 billion (including $268 million in cash/securities, 208 BTC, and equity in Beast Industries). Among them, staked ETH reached 4,917,189 coins (85% of the total, valued at approximately $9.6 billion), with annualized staking revenue reaching $254 million.The9 maintains a holding of 1,686 BTC and advances its AI strategy: Nasdaq-listed internet company The9 Limited (NASDAQ: $NCTY) officially stated that its total Bitcoin holdings are currently 1,686.39 coins. The company will continue to steadily promote its digital asset treasury strategy while leveraging its existing computing power and capital base to accelerate the business growth of its AI-driven platform.

Circle announced the acquisition of IBM's blockchain patent portfolio, which includes over 680 patent families and nearly 1000 granted patents, covering areas such as underlying blockchain technology, banking, financial services, insurance, enterprise infrastructure, supply chain verification, and secure cloud operations.After this acquisition, Circle stated that it has become a leading company in the United States for blockchain patent holdings and will further support USDC, Circle Payments Network, Arc, and other on-chain financial products and infrastructure development. Both parties also expressed their intention to explore more business cooperation opportunities in the future.

AI patent startup Stilta announced the completion of a $10.5 million seed round financing, led by Andreessen Horowitz, with participation from Y Combinator and individual investors from companies such as OpenAI, Legora, Sana, Lovable, and Listen Labs.The new funding will primarily be used for hiring engineers, patent experts, and marketing teams. The company plans to expand its team to about 10 people over the next 3 to 6 months and aims to establish an office in New York by the end of this year or early 2027.Stilta focuses on AI Agent-driven patent management software, primarily targeting scenarios such as patent infringement identification, patent licensing opportunity exploration, and patent litigation defense. Its platform can analyze hundreds of millions of patents, research papers, and historical web data to help companies and law firms manage patent assets.The company was founded this year by former McKinsey members Oskar Block, Petrus Werner, Tobias Estreen, and Oscar Adamsson, and was selected for the YC Winter 2026 incubation program. Currently, about two-thirds of its clients are from the corporate sector, while the rest are from law firms.According to reports, Stilta is developing hundreds of AI Agents to perform various tasks such as infringement analysis and patent invalidation analysis, with customized adjustments for highly specialized fields like pharmaceuticals. In recent years, a16z and YC have continued to increase their investments in the legal tech sector. Previously, a16z has invested multiple rounds in the AI legal assistant Harvey; YC has also recently invested in legal AI companies such as Legora, PointOne, and Parlai.

According to DL News, the founding team of Uniswap Labs won a patent infringement lawsuit this week. The case against its decentralized exchange (DEX) was brought by the founders of Bancor, but New York District Judge John Koeltl ruled on Tuesday to dismiss the lawsuit, stating that the plaintiff failed to present a reasonable request for relief. The case involves the code used in Uniswap's original protocol from 2018.Bprotocol Foundation and LocalCoin Ltd. accused the code of belonging to Bancor's patented infrastructure, claiming that Uniswap Labs "profited significantly" without permission. Uniswap's Assistant General Counsel Jolie Yang stated, "This victory is significant for the DeFi community, protecting developers to innovate and improve existing concepts without the worry of patent trolls." The ruling noted that Bancor's patent claims abstract concepts like currency exchange, which are not protected under U.S. patent law. The mechanism (CPAMM) was initially proposed by Bancor in 2017, promoted by Uniswap in 2018, and became a mainstream design for early DEXs; Bancor had previously open-sourced the CPAMM code.

The New York Federal Court dismissed the patent infringement lawsuit filed by entities associated with the Bancor protocol against Uniswap. The judge ruled that the relevant patents involve abstract concepts related to cryptocurrency exchange rate calculations, which do not qualify for patent protection under U.S. patent law. The court rejected the plaintiffs' argument that implementing a pricing formula on blockchain infrastructure made it patentable, stating that merely confining an abstract concept to a specific technological environment does not make it patentable. The plaintiffs have 21 days to submit a revised complaint.Uniswap founder Hayden Adams briefly stated on social media that a lawyer just told us we won.

Uniswap founder Hayden Adams posted on the X platform stating that lawyers informed him that Uniswap has won the lawsuit.Previously, Bprotocol Foundation and LocalCoin Ltd. filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, accusing Uniswap Labs and Uniswap Foundation of infringing on their patent related to the constant product automated market maker (CPAMM) infrastructure obtained in 2017.Bancor claims that Uniswap used its core smart contract technology without authorization and is seeking damages. A spokesperson for Uniswap Labs previously stated that the lawsuit is baseless and argued that its protocol code has been publicly available for years.

According to The Block, KB Kookmin Card, a subsidiary of South Korea's largest financial group KB Financial, has submitted a patent application for stablecoin payment technology.The patent covers a hybrid payment system that allows users to pay with stablecoins through existing credit cards. According to the design, users can link their blockchain wallet address to their existing credit card, and during payment, the stablecoin balance in the linked e-wallet will be deducted first; if the balance is insufficient, the remaining amount will be charged to the credit card. KB stated that this design aims to retain the existing card payment infrastructure, familiar user experience, and related benefits (such as rewards and protections), while lowering the barriers to digital asset payments, helping stablecoins transition from niche platforms to mainstream finance.

Datavault AI Inc. (NASDAQ: DVLT) today announced the acquisition of two key U.S. patents, significantly enhancing its intellectual property portfolio in the field of blockchain content management and monetization.These patents cover a system for monetizing digital content through token management via blockchain, as well as a comprehensive content licensing platform utilizing blockchain ledgers and secure identifiers. Combined with the company's existing Sumerian® crypto anchors, DataScore, and AI agent technologies, Datavault AI can tokenize intellectual property, creative content, and data assets into secure real-world assets.

According to Bloomberg, Coinbase Inc. has decided to withdraw its lawsuit against DynaPass Inc. DynaPass had claimed that the software company baselessly accused the cryptocurrency exchange platform of infringing a patent related to two-factor authentication.According to a notice of dismissal filed on October 31 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, the parties reached an agreement that includes a commitment clause: DynaPass will not sue Coinbase, its customers, suppliers, partners, or other members of the non-profit advocacy organization Crypto Open Patent Alliance.In the lawsuit filed in September, Coinbase sought a declaratory judgment from the court confirming that the company did not infringe DynaPass's U.S. Patent No. 6,993,658 and questioned the validity of the patent.

ChainCatcher news, according to The Block, the stock price of South Korean payment giant KakaoPay has surged over 200% in the past month, mainly benefiting from the rising expectations of its entry into the stablecoin sector. According to Google Finance data, the company's stock price has risen from 30,800 KRW (approximately $22.25) on May 23 to the current 94,700 KRW (approximately $68.6), and it increased by 17.3% in early trading on Monday.Reports indicate that KakaoPay has submitted six patent applications related to stablecoins, including PKRW, KKRW, KRWP, covering services such as crypto transfers, brokerage, electronic payments, and token issuance. Previously, newly elected South Korean President Lee Jae-myung promised to promote the issuance of a won stablecoin in collaboration with the private sector, further boosting market expectations.According to South Korean media ZDNET Korea, KakaoPay stated that the patent applications aim to prepare for potential regulatory changes and will continue to monitor policy developments.

ChainCatcher news, according to The Block, Uniswap responded that the lawsuit is "baseless," emphasizing that its protocol code has been publicly available for a long time, and condemned the move as an interference with the momentum of DeFi development. Bancor's actions have sparked controversy on social media, being criticized as "against the spirit of Web3." Uniswap CEO Hayden Adams also mocked the lawsuit in a post, calling it "not worth mentioning."Previous news, Bancor sued Uniswap for infringing its DEX smart contract technology patent.

ChainCatcher news, according to The Block, the developers behind Bancor have filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Uniswap Labs and the Uniswap Foundation, accusing them of illegally using its underlying decentralized trading platform technology.The lawsuit was filed by the nonprofit organization Bprotocol Foundation, which supports the development of the Bancor protocol, and Bancor's original developer LocalCoin Ltd. The lawsuit has been submitted to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, alleging that the Uniswap protocol is built on Bancor's patented Constant Product Automated Market Maker (CPAMM) infrastructure.Bancor invented the CPAMM model in 2016 and developed a mechanism for permissionless on-chain trading supported by smart contracts. The protocol published its white paper in 2017 and submitted a U.S. patent application. Bancor was granted two patents that same year and launched the first CPAMM-based DEX.The lawsuit claims that the original protocol launched by Uniswap in November 2018 used the same CPAMM design without authorization. Bancor accuses Uniswap of deploying its intellectual property without consent, thereby "profiting unfairly."

ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, a company that sells smartwatch face designs through NFTs has filed a lawsuit against luxury giant LVMH, accusing it of patent infringement.In a complaint filed on March 10 in a federal court in Texas, Watch Skins Corporation accused LVMH of stealing its "groundbreaking NFT display technology." Watch Skins claims to have developed a unique system that allows users to showcase verified NFT artworks on smartwatches and holds multiple patents related to the technology.The company states that a smartwatch from LVMH's TAG Heuer brand, as well as products from other brands within the group, illegally utilized NFT display technology based on three patents owned by Watch Skins.Watch Skins is seeking a jury trial and demands compensation for lost profits and royalties due to the infringement, while also requesting the court to issue an injunction to prevent LVMH from further using its patented technology. The company announced the launch of the world's first blockchain NFT watch face marketplace at the 2020 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. At that time, Watch Skins stated that the mobile application provided consumers with the ability to "purchase officially licensed smartwatch faces from their favorite brands."

ChainCatcher news, according to Coingape, Bank of America is using XRP for internal transactions and has filed 83 patents related to XRP.In an interview with FOX Business, Sound Planning Group CEO David Stryzewski revealed that Bank of America has integrated XRP into 100% of its internal transactions, and the bank has also applied for 83 patents around Ripple, making its native token a fundamental component of future finance.