In October 2023, a court decision from the US International Trade Commission (ITC) established that Apple had stolen Masimo’s patents relating to the detection of oxygen levels in the blood to develop the sensors for its connected watches . As a result, the Apple Watch Ultra 2 and Watch Series 9 were banned from the United States.
After a temporary suspension of the sales ban, Apple was finally forced to withdraw its last two connected watches from the shelves at the start of 2024. A solution was still found by the Apple firm to continue their marketing : remove the sensor measuring the blood oxygenation rate.
A decision that seems temporary, because Apple has appealed the ITC’s decision. Tim Cook also spoke on this subject after the publication of Apple’s latest results. In an interview with CNBC on February 1, 2024, the CEO said: “We focus on the call”.
He adds in passing: “There are many reasons to buy the watch even without the blood oxygen sensor”, thus directly referring to new models devoid of this functionality.
Negotiations with Masimo therefore do not seem to be on the agenda at Apple. However, Joe Kiani, CEO of the medical technology company, has reached out to the Apple firm several times.
At the end of 2023, he unambiguously affirmed to Bloomberg that he was open to seeking an agreement with Apple. The manager stressed, however, that the company had not contacted Masimo. He also insisted on the fact that “it takes two to dance tango”, and therefore find an agreement to resolve the dispute.
At the start of 2024, nothing new. Joe Kiani recently explained that Apple had still not yet started “serious discussions around an agreement”.
Tim Cook’s statement therefore confirms the inflexibility of Apple’s position pending an appeal decision.