Image: Jason Hiner/ZDNET.
Americans can once again purchase Apple Watch Series 9 or Ultra 2 from Apple, following a lifting of the ban this week.
As a reminder, following a dispute concerning Apple’s use of a patent for the blood oxygen sensor present on the Apple Watch Series 9 and the Apple Watch Ultra 2, the International Trade Commission (ITC) decided to ban sales of its two models by Apple after December 24.
The ITC’s decision has since been stayed by a federal appeals court. The two models are therefore back on the American window of the Apple online Store, and in certain physical stores.
A stolen patent?
Ordered by the ITC, the ban was implemented following a patent dispute between Apple and medical technology company Masimo over the Apple Watch’s blood oxygen sensor.
In summary, Apple is accused of infringing a patent of the medical technology company Masimo. The two companies met about a decade ago to discuss a possible collaboration, but Masimo now says the meeting was only to find out what features — and staff — Apple wanted. take him. Before the launch of the Apple Watch, Apple actually hired several former Masimo employees before announcing the blood oxygen sensor now at the center of controversy.
Apple naturally denied the accusations, but Masimo ended up suing it in 2020. At the end of the trial, the ITC having found Apple guilty of patent infringement, it imposed a ban on the sale of the two models of ‘Apple Watch.
Ban temporarily suspended
Apple immediately filed an emergency appeal with an appeals court, requesting a stay of the ban. The company argued that it would suffer irreparable harm if the ban were to stand, especially since the ITC indicated that it would need at least two weeks to respond to Apple’s appeal against the ban. decision of the commission.
The lifting of the ban by a federal appeals court is only temporary, the legal conflict continues. Apple is currently looking for ways to resolve this patent dispute through a software update or change in the design of its watches. However, Masimo maintains that the source of the conflict is hardware and that a simple software modification would not be enough.
Any changes Apple makes to affected Apple Watch models will be reviewed before January 12 to determine if they are sufficient to resolve the issue. The appeals court is then expected to hear Apple’s request and rule on a permanent suspension of this ban from January 15. If the court makes this decision, the ban will be suspended until the final decision of the patent trial is announced.
Source: ZDNet.com