The ITC has sided with Masimo in the patent dispute over the blood oxygen sensor in the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2. This has resulted in a sales ban for these wearables in the US, just in time for the holidays. Apple has filed a motion to pause the ban, but the ITC has denied this request. The only hope for Apple now is for the President to veto the ban.
A Presidential Review Period is ongoing, and Apple is preparing to comply with the ruling if it stands. The affected Apple Watch models will stop being sold on Apple.com on December 21, then in Apple’s retail stores on December 24, and finally will be unavailable once stocks run out at third-party retailers like Amazon and Best Buy on December 26. However, models like the Apple Watch SE, which do not contain a blood oxygen sensor, will continue to be sold.
Masimo filed a lawsuit against Apple in 2021 for alleged patent violations related to light-based blood-oxygen monitoring. Despite the sales ban, the blood oxygen feature will still be functional on previously purchased Apple Watch models. In retaliation, Apple filed two patent infringement suits against Masimo in October 2022, accusing the company of copying Apple Watch features.
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