The Game of the Apple and Masimo War: Resolving the Patents-Law Conflict for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection

There is a very long game of cat and mouse about whether they are violating the patents. “If they’re successful at getting the workaround to get the product back on the market, I suspect that would be a measurable win for them to win the case in the long term.”

The United States Customs and Border Protection is considering redesigning the Apple watch models, and is expected to make a decision by January 12.

Apple has denied that it violated any Masimo patents, saying Apple consulted with several medical technology companies before coming up with its own version of the blood oxygen tool.

“Apple managed to turn a patent loss into a marketing opportunity, creating a sense of a false shortage so that people would rush out and get these things before they were off the market,” he said, adding that the appeals court stay could be considered a “finger in the eye” for the U.S. International Trade Commission.

Philip Elmer-DeWitt, a reporter and editor who has covered Apple since 1983, suggested the company might have strategically pulled some of its watches before filing its emergency request to the appeals court.

For the past 3 years, Apple and Masimo have battled over a single feature in the Apple Watch, and Masimo seems confident that it can win. And there’s a good reason Masimo might believe that: the company came out on top when it sued True Wearables, a startup run by a former executive with a stint on the Apple Watch team, on similar grounds.

“I think it’s advantage Apple here, they have this piece in their favor here, and what’s more important than their jockeying in the courts is Apple’s ability to find a workaround,” Munster said.

Apple is suing against True Wearables over an patent violation by its wireless pulse oximeter. A comment on the Apple Watch Watch Series 9 and Apple Ultra 2

Apple said in a statement that it disagreed with the decision and was taking all measures to return the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 to customers in the US as soon as possible.

The commission also issued a ban on imports of the Series 9 and Ultra 2 versions, which included the technology. Apple removed those products from store shelves.

The tech giant disagreed with the findings of the patent tribunal and the appeals court temporarily stopped the ban on imports of Apple’s newest timepiece.

Apple views Lamego’s time at the company differently: it alleges that neither Lamego nor the other Masimo employees it hired were involved in the creation of the products and features Masimo is suing over. According to Apple, the email to Cook came years before the development of the accused products, implying that the two events were unrelated.

In 2018, Masimo filed a complaint against True Wearables over claims its wireless pulse oximeter infringed on Masimo’s patent. The court sided with Masimo and issued a permanent injunction against the sale of the device in December 2022.