Apple Can’t Give Up on the Importability of High-Meson Products: The Apple Watch Case in the ‘Horizon’

“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. The Federal Circuit is likely to be involved in that appeal.

It is not certain whether the ITC import ban will stand. It is currently undergoing a presidential review period, and it will be up to the president to veto the ban. It’s not unusual for presidential vetos to benefit Apple in the past. Barack Obama prevented the import of certain iPad models after vetoing an ITC ban. That said, Biden chose to uphold another ITC ruling that would see Apple Watch imports banned over the EKG feature. The presidential review period is over in December so we will have to wait and see if things stay the same.

“The decision to exclude certain foreign-made models of the Apple Watch demonstrates that even the world’s most powerful company must abide by the law,” a Masimo spokesperson said in a statement to NPR.

The White House could undo the commission’s decision, which Munster said Apple is likely counting on. It would help clarify why Apple did not make a licensing agreement with Masimo and why it has dragged on for months.

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 who wanted to buy a watch as a holiday gift have done so already,” Munster said. The bigger question is what will be the duration of this.

The Apple iPhone Problem: A Supreme Court ruling against Apple over a patent dispute over blood–oxygen monitoring, a product of a competitor

The Masimo trial revealed that Apple discussed acquiring Masimo in the past, but ultimately decided against it.

Apple will be pulling two of its newest smartphone watches from store shelves this week after losing a patent dispute over whether it illegally copied another company’s technology.

The dispute with Masimo was the subject of the suspension. Masimo sued Apple in 2021. The company alleged that Apple had infringed on one of its patents related to light-based blood-oxygen monitoring. A judge ruled that Apple had infringed on the patents, and the ITC upheld that ruling in October. The decision then led to a 60-day presidential review period, which expires on December 25. Apple takes precautions to comply.

It is rare for a company to block the sale of a competitor because they have the same features. 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. It’s really a feat to see this happen to a company as big as Apple.