The Aryavarth Express
Agency(New Delhi): Apple Inc. has urged a U.S. appeals court to overturn an import ban imposed by the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) on some of its Apple Watches. This legal move comes in response to a patent dispute with Masimo, a company specializing in medical-monitoring technology.
Apple argues that the ITC’s decision, which temporarily halted imports of its Series 9 and Ultra 2 smartwatches, was based on what it considers “substantively defective patent rulings.” The tech giant also contends that Masimo did not demonstrate adequate investment in competing products in the U.S. to justify such a ban.
The dispute centers around pulse oximetry technology, which Apple incorporated into its watches starting with the Series 6 in 2020. Masimo alleges that Apple infringed on its patents for this technology and further accuses Apple of poaching its employees to develop it after the two companies had initially discussed collaboration.
In December, the ITC ruled in favor of Masimo, leading to a temporary halt in the import of the implicated Apple Watch models. However, Apple managed to overturn this decision briefly, resuming sales, only for the ban to be reinstated by the appeals court in January.
Currently, Apple has removed the pulse oximetry function from its watches sold while the appeal is pending—a process expected to last at least another year. Meanwhile, U.S. Customs and Border Protection has cleared redesigned versions of the watches that do not include this feature, stating they do not infringe on Masimo’s patents.
Apple’s latest legal filing challenges the validity of Masimo’s patents and argues that the imposed ban is untenable because the specific Masimo product supposedly covered by these patents was merely hypothetical at the time of the complaint in 2021. The outcome of this appeal could significantly impact Apple’s product features and its legal strategies moving forward.