Apple asked a U.S. appeals court this month to overturn a U.S. trade tribunal’s decision to ban imports of some Apple Watches in a patent dispute with medical-monitoring technology company Masimo.
Apple told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit that the U.S. International Trade Commission’s decision was based on a “series of substantively defective patent rulings,” and that Masimo failed to show it had invested in making competing U.S. products that would justify the order.
Irvine, California-based Masimo has accused Apple of hiring away its employees and stealing its pulse oximetry technology after discussing a potential collaboration. Apple first introduced pulse oximetry to its Series 6 Apple Watches in 2020.
Masimo convinced the ITC on Dec. 26 to block imports of Apple’s latest-edition Series 9 and Ultra 2 smartwatches after finding that their technology for reading blood-oxygen levels infringed Masimo’s patents.
Apple told the Federal Circuit on Friday that the ban could not stand because a Masimo wearable covered by the patents was “purely hypothetical” when it filed its ITC complaint in 2021.
The tech giant also argued that Masimo’s patents were invalid and that its watches did not infringe them.
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MacDailyNews Take: A “series of substantively defective patent rulings.” Apple’s legal team is telling it like it is.
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Interesting case; I was surprised with Masimo’s noteworthy achievements in other miniature-form medical products after initially thinking they were opportunists trying to shake down Apple. Not too sure now. Some validity to both sides’ arguments.