The ITC banned the Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 this week

Apple’s Import Ban on the Blood Oxygen Feature Doesn’t Imply a Biden Administration Rule Violation of the Masimo Patents

The commission issued an import ban on the watches that include the technology that was set to take effect on Dec. 26, but Apple acted on the deadline early.

Apple has been accused of violating Masimo’s patents by using the blood oxygen feature in its watches.

Apple has denied that it violated any Masimo patents, saying Apple consulted with several medical technology companies before coming up with its own version of the blood oxygen tool.

“Apple is the gold standard when it comes to U.S. innovation, and I think they’re hoping the Biden administration recognizes that and agrees with them to get this overturned,” he said. “Apple likes to play hardball with other companies, and sometimes it helps them reach more favorable deals over things like licensing.”

Gene Munster, a longtime Apple analyst, said yanking the new watches from retail stores in the final stretch of the holiday shopping season is unfortunate timing for the company, but he expects a “fractional at most” impact on sales.

Most people who want to buy a watch as a holiday gift have already done so. I have a big question about the duration of this.

While Masimo could not make its case to a jury, the trial did reveal that Apple discussed the idea of acquiring Masimo at one point before ultimately deciding against it.

Apple Pulls Two Smart Watches from its Stores after losing a Large-Scale Intellectual Property Dispattering Trademark

Apple will pull two of its newest watches from its stores this week after losing a patent dispute.

There has been a dispute with the medical tech company Masimo. In 2020, Masimo sued Apple. The company alleged that Apple had infringed on one of its patents related to light-based blood-oxygen monitoring. The ITC upheld a judge’s ruling that Apple had violated the patents. The decision then led to a 60-day presidential review period, which expires on December 25. Apple is taking measures to be in compliance.

Many smartwatches look alike and have similar features, so it’s rare for a company to successfully block the sales of a competitor by claiming patent infringement. After realizing that it doesn’t sell much fitness trackers anyways, Fitbit dropped its attempt to block the import of Jawbone products. To see this happen to a Goliath company like Apple, the maker of the best-selling watches in the worlds, is truly a feat.