New Apple Watch models do not infringe Masimo patents, but the war is far from over

The complex legal battle between Apple and the California-based medical technology company Masimo adds a new, significant chapter.

A judge of the United States International Trade Commission (ITC) has, in a preliminary decision, determined that redesigned versions of the smartwatches do not infringe the patents related to blood-oxygen monitoring technology.

Despite this partial victory, the legal dispute between the two companies appears far from a final conclusion, winding its way through multiple courtrooms.

Apple vs Masimo: the Commission’s decision and the appeals issue

The judge’s ruling represents a significant step for Apple, but it does not fully close the case at the ITC. The decision will now have to be reviewed by the full commission, which will have the final say on its actual confirmation.

Parallel to this development, another court, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, has instead reaffirmed the validity of the 2023 ruling. The decision unequivocally confirmed that the original design of the watches violated Masimo’s intellectual property.

Apple’s spokespeople expressed satisfaction with the latest assessments of the new design, while also stating the intention to explore every legal avenue in detail to oppose the federal appellate court’s decision on the older models.

The company also noted in an official statement that, over the past six years, Masimo has submitted dozens of claims deemed unfounded and rejected almost in their entirety. From Masimo’s Irvine headquarters, no official comments to the press have yet been issued regarding this latest development.

The winning strategy and the changes to the watches

The genesis of this fierce legal battle goes back to Masimo’s precise allegations that Apple had poached highly specialized personnel to steal the secrets of pulse oximetry technology.

In December 2023, the situation escalated when the International Trade Commission temporarily blocked imports into the United States of specific devices, including the Apple Watch Series 9 and the Apple Watch Ultra 2.

To overcome the trade ban, Cupertino engineers had to implement an original solution. Initially, the oxygen monitoring function was completely disabled on devices destined for the U.S. market.

Subsequently, in August, an updated version of the feature was introduced, which received formal approval from U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

The substantial change introduced by Apple concerns the processing of biometric data: blood-oxygenation measurements are now processed and displayed on connected external devices, such as an iPhone screen, rather than being fully handled by the watch’s onboard software.

Economic burdens and open fronts

This precise move allowed Apple to resume regular sales in the United States, but it inevitably triggered a new legal venture by Masimo, which filed an additional lawsuit to challenge the approval granted by customs authorities to the new system.

Beyond handling the now-evaded import ban, the dispute carries enormous financial implications. Consider that at the end of last year, a federal jury ordered Apple to pay a massive $634 million penalty to Masimo, specifically for infringing the original patents related to blood parameter measurement.

Although the new design shields current devices from immediate market blocks, the dense network of civil suits, appeals, and parallel proceedings clearly indicates that the corporate clash will still take a long time and require substantial legal efforts to reach its conclusion.