Apple is now banned from selling its latest Apple Watches in the US
Apple is now banned from selling its latest Apple Watches in the US
The Apple Watch SE is still available, though.
As much as I hate awfully broad patents, if the shoe was on the other foot, Apple would unleash its army of lawyers to block the other company's sales.
Apple has done this many times before. Over even more frivolous patents (i.e. a glossy black rectangle)
They made their bed, now they have to lie in it
In this case, it doesn't seem like the patents are "awfully broad". Masimo is actively selling products using the patents, and it seems likely that Apple stole their technology.
From the Apple claims:
Masimo waited over a decade after it filed its original provisional applications, only to file the new applications that became the supposedly infringed patents just a week after Apple launched the first of the accused Apple Watch products.
Sounds to me like that should be illegal, no matter who does it.
It pleases me when the law actually protects a smaller company that had its tech stolen by a corporate giant.
Looks like a patent troll, though.
Apple is a patent troll so it serves them right. They think they can patent rounded rectangle, lol
https://www.masimopersonalhealth.com/products/masimo-w1
Looks like they've been selling this since November 9th 2022 at the latest.
Be that as it may, it's small potatoes compared to Apple's business practices.
Someone at Apple's legal dept is gonna have a bad day
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A statement (via CNBC) from the Office of US Trade Representative Katherine Tai said the agency “decided not to reverse the ITC’s [International Trade Commission] determination” after “careful consideration.”
The ITC issued the ban after finding that Apple infringed on blood oxygen saturation technology patented by a company called Masimo.
It also ordered Apple to stop selling any previously-imported devices with the infringed-upon tech.
While Apple attempted to block the decision while awaiting an appeal, the ITC denied Apple’s request, and the other chance of intervention was a veto from President Joe Biden, which didn't happen.
Apple will also continue selling the Watch SE, as it doesn’t come with a blood oxygen sensor.
But both of those methods might not be enough to satisfy the ITC, which is why Apple could always choose to settle with Masimo instead.
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Poor Apple... if only the most valuable company on the planet could afford to pay the patent-holders their fair share... but money is tight. They only made $99.8 billion dollars in profit last year.
All patent enforcement these days feels like trolling. Does anyone know if this company actually developed the tech or if they just acquired the patent for this purpose?