Weeks after legal turmoil, Apple is finally going by the US Customs office to sell it’s latest smartwatches by removing the blood oxygen saturation feature.
The International Trade Commission has earlier banned Apple from selling it’s Watch Series 9 and Watch Ultra 2 with the blood oxygen saturation feature, since it’s infringing Masimo’s patent. Now, it can do so with a redesign, probably through an update.
Removing a Feature to Satisfy the Regulators
Apple’s long-standing battle with Masimo, a health tech company, is partially settling down this week, as the former has decided to cut down a feature belonging to Masimo. For those of you who don’t know, Masimo sued Apple for including it’s patented health feature – blood oxygen saturation – in it’s recently launched Watch Series 9 and Watch Ultra 2.
This led the International Trade Commission to halt Apple’s sales of these smartwatches, as they’re infringing Masimo’s patent until a clear ruling is passed. Complying with this order, Apple briefly paused selling the concerned smartwatches in late December, only to start a day after by obtaining interim relief from an appellate court.
Well, this was allowed with a caveat that the US Customs and Border Protection should clear Apple’s smartwatches by this week, that they’re fit to import without infringing Masimo’s patent. As ordered, Apple complied with this by pulling off the blood oxygen saturation feature from it’s Watch Series 9 and Watch Ultra 2.
A court order passed on Monday states that Apple should redesign it’s latest smartwatches to remove the infringing feature. While Apple hasn’t publicly described the redesign, we expect it to be a software update to remove the blood oxygen saturation feature.
But again, the customs agency’s decision could be overruled if the ITC disagrees. As we wait to see more action on this, Masimo accuses Apple of poaching it’s employees and stealing it’s pulse oximetry technology to use in it’s smartwatches. Apple has countersued Masimo and called their legal actions a “maneuver to clear a path” to their competing smartwatch.
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