Apple has asked a US appeals court to reverse a US trade tribunal’s decision that banned the import of certain Apple Watches due to a patent dispute with medical-monitoring technology company Masimo.
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Apple argued before the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit that the US International Trade Commission’s decision was flawed due to several patent rulings, and Masimo failed to demonstrate investment in competing US products justifying the ban.
Representatives for Apple and Masimo didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. Masimo, based in Irvine, California, accused Apple of poaching its employees and misappropriating its pulse oximetry technology following discussions about potential collaboration. Apple introduced pulse oximetry to its Series 6 Apple Watches in 2020.
Masimo convinced the ITC to block imports of Apple’s latest Series 9 and Ultra 2 smartwatches on December 26, citing patent infringement related to blood-oxygen level reading technology.
After a brief resumption of sales following a pause granted by the Federal Circuit, the appeals court reinstated the ban in January. Apple responded by removing pulse oximetry features from watches sold during the appeal, anticipating the process to last about a year.
No Infringement
In January, US Customs and Border Protection concluded that updated editions of the watches did not infringe on Masimo’s rights and were exempt from the ban. Masimo stated in a legal document that the watches “definitively do not contain pulse oximetry functionality.”
Apple informed the Federal Circuit on Friday that the ban was unjustifiable because a Masimo wearable referenced in the patents was “purely hypothetical” at the time of its ITC complaint in 2021.
Furthermore, Apple contended that Masimo’s patents were invalid and that its watches did not breach them.
