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Apple wins patent lawsuit (and $250) from Masimo – but it won’t affect Apple Watch’s MIA blood oxygen feature

Harry October 26, 2024

In late 2023, Apple took a minor hit to its profitable Christmas sales period thanks to medical device maker Masimo. firm Successfully blocked US sales between Apple Watch Series 9 And Apple Watch Ultra2International Trade Commission (ITC), ruling that the devices infringed on the pulse oximeter patent.

Between December 21st and December 27th only Apple Watch SE It could be purchased – without the feature – from Apple stores. However, the company quickly compensated by removing blood oxygen measurement from its newly sold flagship smartwatches; this feature is still MIA on new devices to date.

On Friday, Apple got a little revenge on Masimo. Bloomberg Law A federal jury in Delaware found that the firm infringed on two of Apple’s patents on one of its smartwatches. But all in all, it’s not much of a prize for a few reasons.

First, the losses won’t make the world’s richest company much richer. Apple charged only $250 (yes, just a single zero), which is the legal minimum amount of damages possible.

“We’re not here for the money,” Apple’s attorney John Desmarais is quoted as telling jurors in his closing argument, adding that the purpose of the action was to “stop copying our design.”

But although two design patents were indeed found to have been infringed (one on the charger and the other on the health module in the watch itself), they are not part of Masimo’s existing products and the injunction on future sales is essentially meaningless, Bloomberg explains. “The decision all but eliminated any chance of blocking Masimo’s existing products,” the article says.

Claiming that the jury decided in his favor “on almost all issues”, Masimo’s statement is of the opinion that the legal process was a fiasco for the iPhone manufacturer. “Apple primarily sought injunction against Masimo’s existing products, and the jury’s decision is a victory for Masimo on this issue,” the statement said.

Apple, as you might expect, is trying to paint things differently. “We thank the jury for their careful consideration of this case, finding that Masimo knowingly infringed on Apple’s patented designs.” 9to5Mac reader. “The teams at Apple, Apple WatchA successful and innovative product that meaningfully impacts users’ lives.

“Masimo introduced a device that exploited shortcuts and copied the Apple Watch, infringing our intellectual property. We are pleased that today’s jury’s decision will protect the innovations we develop on behalf of our customers.”

Although both claim victory in their own way, these two statements do not actually contradict each other. But whatever belief you choose to believe, this trial doesn’t directly impact blood oxygen sensing in Apple’s wearables; this is a feature that is still missing from the recently released model. Apple Watch Series 10.

While we haven’t heard any updates lately, in February Apple CEO Tim Cook signaled that the company planned to appeal the ITC decision rather than negotiate a licensing deal for the technology from Masimo.

Cook’s statement, “We are focused on the appeal issue,” drew attention AppleInsider To read. “There are many reasons to buy the watch even if it does not have a blood oxygen sensor.”

While this is going on, this feature remains disabled on new Apple Watches, including the newly released Series 10. Concern that this would prevent the expected addition of sleep apnea detection, The feature has finally arrived on the new wearable device using your device accelerometer instead of blood oxygen sensor for monitoring.

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Pasteleria-edelweiss

Apple wins patent lawsuit (and $250) from Masimo – but it won’t affect Apple Watch’s MIA blood oxygen feature

Harry

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Apple wins patent lawsuit (and $250) from Masimo – but it won’t affect Apple Watch’s MIA blood oxygen feature

Harry

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