Ever Trend Zone Today, Apple appeared in the U.S. Court of Appeals in the Federal Circuit to overturn a ruling that blocked the US sale of Apple Watches using blood oxygen sensors in late 2023.
A simple review
The legal dispute between Apple and Masimo began in 2021 when a medical technology company accused Apple of infringing several patents related to blood oxygen detection.
In 2023, the US International Trade Commission (ITC) sided with Masimo to discover that Apple had violated its intellectual property and issued an import ban on Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2.
Apple temporarily withdraws both models from sales in the US and then resumes sales after securing a temporary suspension of the ban. However, when the court reinstated the ban in January 2024, Apple was forced to turn off the blood oxygen function on its newly sold model.
In today’s appeal, Apple is trying to completely reverse the ITC ruling, regaining the blood oxygen capacity of US watches selling, and allowing customers to continue to provide functionality.
Today’s charm
As reported by Reutersin today’s oral debate, Apple’s lawyer Joseph Mueller told a panel of three judges that the ban “millions of Apple Watch users” mistakenly administered blood oxygen function.
He characterized Masimo’s claim as unfair, saying the company’s first wearables were not released until 2022, two years after Apple introduced the feature.
“Mueller told the court on Monday that the ban was unfair as Masimo only had a prototype of a smartwatch with pulse oximetry when he filed an ITC complaint.
Apple’s debate appears to have landed. The judge reportedly questioned whether Masimo’s subsequent development of competing smartwatches really justified the import ban in the first place.
evertrendzone take
The court has yet to decide, but today’s hearing revealed that Apple is now pursuing a different angle due to past attempts in which Masimo’s patent failed.
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