What happened

Apple will stop selling the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 on its online store starting December 21st and in Apple retail stores after December 24th. Media reports that this decision applies only to the United States. Apart from these, the devices can still be purchased for free.

What is the reason? Medicine unknown in our latitudes startup Masimo has a patent on non-invasive blood oxygen measurement, or pulse oximetry. In 2020, Masimo lawyers filed a complaint alleging that the Apple Watch’s pulse oximeter infringed on numerous patents held by the company. The case was subsequently referred to the International Trade Commission (ITC) in 2021, and the Commission recommended implementation of the ban in October 2023. Apple apparently filed an objection, so the so-called “presidential review period of the Commission order” is currently ongoing and ends on December 25. However, the company is already taking measures to comply with the requirements if the decision remains in force.

Masimo blamed Apple seduction of employees and their resulting trade secrets. Moreover, it is claimed that it has been many years since the technology first appeared in Apple watches in 2020. It is not known exactly how Apple violated the patent, but the company is already working on technical and legal solutions to prevent further bans. He says he strongly disagrees with the decision.

Time will tell what happens next, as an ITC judge previously ruled against Apple. It infringed Masimo’s patent on technology to determine blood oxygen levels using light radiation.

Apple is preparing an update to avoid problems

A new report from Bloomberg suggests that a software update could help it restart in the US market, and the company is already working on it. At the same time, Masimo claims that the ban on sales of Apple Watch can only be prevented by changes to the hardware itself, the software will not bypass the problem. This could mean that the patent relates to the hardware part of the technology.

Apple believes that this software update can meet US customs requirements, but Cupertino believes that this decision is a very responsible engineering effort that has never been done before.
– Wccftech writes the publication.

It’s unclear how long such a software fix would take.

The war with Apple has already cost Masimo millions of dollars

Masimo’s efforts to ban the Apple Watch in the US have cost the company dearly, according to latest reports about 60 million dollars.

As wccftech writes, the two companies had previously teamed up for a future partnership or even acquisition, but Apple had other plans. He hired 20 of his rival’s employees, offered to double their salaries, and began working on his own technology. It was also reported that Masimo’s CTO was paid $4 million to join Apple. The CTO was not named in the report, but in just the first two weeks of his new role, he filed 12 patents for sensors that were claimed to be his previous employer’s trade secret.

But Shil Mokhnot is a financier wrote on his page on XHe said Apple missed the mark and its technology didn’t work because the company didn’t get FDA approval for a finished product like Masimo. Despite this, Masimo CEO Joe Kiani decided to fight until the end to ensure Apple fails.

White House ‘monitoring’ Apple Watch ban and Masimo CEO ready for a deal

Meanwhile, the White House said it was monitoring the situation closely. The Biden administration is involved in the process because the president can veto the ITC’s decision in the Apple Watch case. The intervention window closes on December 25. White House press secretary Karin Jean-Pierre shared a statement with Bloomberg about the White House’s stance, saying, “Senior US trade official Catherine Tye is carefully reviewing all factors in this case.”

However, Masimo’s president, Joe Kiani, said the company was open to talks with Apple to resolve the issue, but noted that “it takes two to tango” and hinted that Apple had not approached them about a potential compromise. Moreover, he thinks that the decision to stop watch sales on Christmas Eve, even before the official announcement of the ITC decision, was a “trick” aimed at putting pressure on Biden himself and encouraging a veto.

Kiani says the patent infringement is no coincidence: “This is not an accidental infringement. This is a deliberate misappropriation of our intellectual property. I’m glad the world can now see that we are the true inventors and creators of these technologies.”