Company Argues Patent Dispute Ruling Was Unjustified

In a high-stakes legal battle, Apple has asked a US federal appeals court to overturn an import ban on Apple Watch models with blood oxygen monitoring capabilities. The tech giant argues that the decision was based on a patent dispute involving an undeveloped competing product.

According to court documents, Apple’s legal counsel this week contended that the ITC’s ruling was unjustified because, at the time Masimo filed its complaint in 2021, the company had not yet brought a competing product to market. Masimo’s first smartwatch, the W1 with blood oxygen tracking, was not released until 2022 – two years after Apple introduced the feature with the Apple Watch Series 6.

The Apple Watch’s blood oxygen measurement function, known as “Blood Oxygen,” uses a combination of photoplethysmography (PPG) and pulse oximetry to measure the level of oxygen in the user’s blood. This feature allows users to track their blood oxygen levels and gain insights into their overall health and wellness. The technology uses the Apple Watch’s built-in camera to shine a light through the user’s skin, measuring the changes in light absorption as the heart beats, which is then used to calculate the blood oxygen level.

Apple maintains that Masimo’s device was not market-ready when the company filed its complaint, and that the legal standard should not permit hypothetical products to justify trade restrictions. “The decision had wrongly ‘deprived millions of Apple Watch users’ of the blood-oxygen feature,” Apple’s attorney argued.

In response, Masimo’s attorney countered that Apple was attempting to “rewrite the law” by asserting that the ITC should only block imports when a physical, commercialized product exists at the time of complaint filing. The ITC originally ruled in Masimo’s favor in October 2023, determining that Apple’s implementation of blood oxygen measurement technology infringed several of Masimo’s patents.

As a result, the commission issued an exclusion order blocking imports of Apple Watch models that included the contested functionality. Following a brief stay granted by the Federal Circuit in December 2023, the import ban was reinstated in January 2024. Apple subsequently modified its devices for the US market, disabling the blood oxygen sensor in newly sold Series 9, Series 10, and Ultra 2 models to resume domestic sales without violating the order. International models retain full functionality.

The case remains under consideration by the Federal Circuit, with a ruling expected later this year. The outcome of this case will have significant implications for the wearable technology industry, as it will determine the scope of patent protection for blood oxygen measurement technology and the extent to which companies can use such technology in their products.