Apple Wants The U.S. Court Of Appeals To Reverse Decision Of Banning The Sale Of The Company’s Smartwatches With Blood-Oxygen Sensors; Masimo’s Attorney Says The iPhone Maker Is Trying To ‘Rewrite The Law’

The Apple Watch sales ban due to the infringement of Masimo’s patents has witnessed an ‘Act 2’ because the Cupertino giant has now asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit to overturn its previous decision of banning the sale of wearables equipped with blood-oxygen sensors. To recap, the United States International Trade Commission (ITC) ruled that certain Apple Watch models leveraged oximeter technology belonging to Masimo. Following the appeal, Masimo’s attorney has said that Apple was trying to ‘rewrite the law’ with its arguments.

What is interesting about the latest development is that Masimo’s competing device was still undeveloped at the time, with judges questioning if the ITC ruling was justified in banning Apple Watch sales

During the hearing, Apple’s attorney, Joseph Mueller of WilmerHale, told the court on Monday that this decision had ‘deprived millions’ of users of the health-focused feature, but Masimo’s lawyer, Joseph Re of Knobbe Martens Olson & Bear, quickly made a rebuttal that Apple was trying to rewrite the law with its arguments. Reuters reports that during the hearing, the three-judge panel questioned Masimo whether its development of a competing wearable justified the ITC’s ruling.

Apple informed the U.S. Court of Appeals that the ban was placed wrongly because a Masimo device covering its patents was ‘purely hypothetical.’ It should also be noted that the first Apple Watch to feature a blood-oxygen sensor launched in 2020, whereas Masimo introduced its own device sporting the feature in 2022. The Irvine-based firm has reportedly spent around $100 million in its patent violation battle with Apple, but has successfully managed to prevent the sale, or at the very least, forced the disabling of the oximeter’s functionality in select smartwatches.

Apple’s attorney said that the ban was unjustified because Masimo did not have a commercial product that was outfitted with its blood-oxygen sensor when it filed its patent infringement complaint with the ITC. Masimo’s and Apple’s lawyers could work out a deal between the two entities to bring the feature back without a licensing partnership, with even Tim Cook mentioning that he has no plans of licensing any of Masimo’s patents. Back in 2024, a power struggle led to Masimo’s CEO, Joe Kiani, being removed from this position by shareholders. Nonetheless, we will keep our readers informed whichever way it pans out for both companies.

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