HOT TOPIC!
Patent dispute sees potentially disastrous outcome
Apple loves control, which is why a recent legal dispute involving the Apple Watch will have caused the company so much alarm. Long – and pretty big – story short: the Apple Watch could be banned from sale in the US.
The saga percolated into most people’s vision on 18 December 2023, when Apple announced that it would comply with an order from the International Trade Commission (ITC) that barred the importation of certain Apple Watch models to the US. This prevented the company from selling the devices online or in-store, and it also could not offer exchanges.
But the story began much earlier than that. The Apple Watch order came about due to an injunction filed by medical tech maker Masimo. According to the company, Apple expressed an interest in its blood oxygen technology in 2013. However, soon after that, Apple began poaching its key workers, according to Masimo claims.
In autumn 2020, Apple launched the Apple Watch Series 6, which was the first model to contain a blood oxygen monitor. Earlier that year, Masimo had filed a complaint with the US District Court in Central California, which alleged that Apple had stolen its trade secrets and infringed upon its patents.
While that court case was ongoing, Masimo also filed a complaint with the ITC. In May 2023, a judge ruled in favour of Masimo, a decision that was upheld on 26 October. This banned the importation of the Apple Watch Series 6, 7, 8 and 9, and also halted the sale of Watch models already in the country.
The decision was then postponed for 60 days while the Biden administration considered whether to veto it – something it ultimately chose not to do. And that led us to 26 December 2023, when the ban came fully into effect.
Given that the Series 6, 7 and 8 are no longer sold by Apple, the ban only affects the Series 9 and the Apple Watch Ultra 2. It also doesn’t affect Apple Watch models sold by third-party stores or those sold in other countries (like the UK). But it’s still a serious kick in the teeth for Apple, and one few people saw coming.
Asorry saga
That’s not the end of the story, however. Apple quickly appealed the ban, which allowed it to put affected Watch models back on store shelves. In the meantime, the company started working on a software workaround for affected devices that would disable the contentious features.
As well as the appeal, Apple also asked for (and was granted) a temporary stay of the ban until at least 13 January, when US Customs and Border Protection agency was due to
