The U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency has determined that Apple can use a redesign to bypass an import ban on newer Apple Watch models stemming from its patent infringement dispute with Masimo, the medical-monitoring technology company said in a court filing on Monday.
The import ban, issued by the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), applies to Apple’s current Series 9 and Ultra 2 watches and initially went into effect on Dec. 26. Apple convinced the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit to pause the ban the next day, and has since resumed selling the watches as it contests the import ruling.
Apple had said that a proposed redesign would allow it to circumvent findings that the watches infringe Masimo’s blood-oxygen reading pulse oximetry patents. Apple has not publicly described the redesign, which could involve an update to the watches’ software.
According to Masimo’s filing on Monday with the Federal Circuit, Apple told the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency that its redesigned watches “definitively do not contain pulse oximetry functionality.” Apple’s filings with U.S. Customs and the agency’s decision, issued Friday, have not been released publicly.
Apple said on Monday that Series 9 and Ultra 2 watches with blood-oxygen reading capabilities are still available.
The Federal Circuit is still considering whether to continue the pause or reinstate the ban, which would apply to Series 9 and Ultra 2 Apple Watches with pulse oximetry technology that do not have the redesign.
Apple has argued that it is likely to win the appeal and that allowing the ban to stay in effect would cause significant harm to the company, its suppliers and the public.
MacDailyNews Note: Apple currently advertises Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 as featuring “an advanced sensor and app to measure your blood oxygen levels, an important indicator of your overall wellness” with the footnote “Blood Oxygen app is for wellness purposes only and not for medical use.”
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U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency should be more worry about all the illegals coming across the border thanks to the illegitimate Biden regime.