The US International Trade Commission (ITC) has issued a ruling that may prevent the import of Apple’s smartwatch. This ruling was issued after the court found that the Apple Watch violated the intellectual property rights of the medical technology company Masimo.
According to Reuters, the ITC upheld the judge’s decision, which was announced in January last year. Based on this, Apple has used the registered patent of Massimo to measure the blood oxygen level with the help of light. According to official documents, this sentence is currently under review and appeal.
Government Joe Biden Before the implementation of the import ban, he has 60 days to decide on vetoing this order; However, past presidents of the United States have rarely used the veto for such bans. After the end of the review phase, Apple can refer the complaint to the US Federal Court of Appeals.
“Massimo is wrongly trying to keep a potentially life-saving device from millions of American consumers, while moving toward an Apple-inspired smartwatch,” said an Apple PR executive. “Although today’s decision does not have an immediate impact on sales of Apple’s smartwatches, we believe this decision should be reversed and will continue to pursue an appeal.”
Joe Kiani“The ITC’s opinion sends a powerful message that even America’s largest technology company is not above the law,” said Massimo CEO.
The ITC ruling did not specify which Apple smartwatch models would be affected by the ban. Massimo’s 2021 complaint alleged that the 2020 Apple Watch Series 6, Apple’s first watch with blood oxygen measurement capability, infringed the company’s intellectual property.
According to Massimo’s complaint, the watches infringing Apple’s patents were made in China. Apple has since moved part of its watch production to Vietnam.
Apple has separately sued Massimo to the court for violating intellectual property rights. Apple has called Massimo’s lawsuit an escape for its production of a smartwatch that copied the Apple Watch.
In February of last year, Apple faced a ban on the import of the Apple Watch by the International Trade Commission due to a separate complaint about the violation of intellectual property rights of the medical technology company AliveCor, but suspended that ruling in the process related to the validation of AliveCor’s patents.
Apple’s wearable gadgets, including the Apple Watch and AirPods, generated about $8.28 billion in revenue in the third quarter of 2023.
