Apple and Masimo Will Close the Apple Watch Industry: A Case Study in the ITC’s High-Temperature Pulse Oximetry Competition
“Should the order stand, Apple will continue to take all measures to return Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 to customers in the US as soon as possible,” Rothberg says. That would likely include an appeal in the Federal Circuit.
It is not clear whether the ITC import ban will hold. President Joe Biden will have the chance to veto the ban during the presidential review period. Presidential vetos, however, are uncommon, though Apple has benefitted from them in the past. The ITC imposed an import ban on certain iPad models, but Barack Obama vetoed it. That said, Biden chose to uphold another ITC ruling that would see Apple Watch imports banned over the EKG feature. We will have to see if things change between now and December 25th, when the presidential review period ends.
Over the last few years, Apple and Masimo have been at odds over patents. Masimo is well-loved for its pulse oximeter. The US District Court for the Central District of California and the ITC have jurisdiction over Masimo’s claims that Apple has violated its pulse oximetry technology. The latter is the reason for this particular ban.
The suspension follows a long-running dispute with the medical tech company Masimo. As Engadget reports, Masimo sued Apple in 2021. The company alleged that Apple had infringed on one of its patents related to light-based blood-oxygen monitoring. The ITC upheld the 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 precautions to make sure it complies.
Since there are many different Smartwatches and some have similar features, it’s very rare for a company to successfully block the sales of a competitor. In 2016, Fitbit attempted to block the import of Jawbone products in a patent case, but dropped its suit after realizing that … well, Jawbone doesn’t sell that many fitness trackers anyway. To see this happen to a Goliath company like Apple, the maker of the best-selling watches in the worlds, is truly a feat.
