Based on the allegations made by Masimo, a medical technology company headquartered in Irvine, California in 2021, that the optical blood oximetry function used by Apple in the Apple Watch infringed its technology patents, and under the influence of the ban ruled by the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) in October this year, Apple will start from December 10.Sales of Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 on the official website have been suspended, and retail channels including Apple Stores will suspend sales from December 12th.
Apple said that although the lawsuit was transferred to the White House for a 60-day presidential review after the court ruling a few days ago, the specific results will not be announced until after December 12. Therefore, the sales of affected products in the United States will be suspended first, but they will still be sold outside the United States.
Apple plans to appeal the decision later, but may also choose to reach a settlement with Masimo or remove the affected features through a software update (for example, disabling blood oxygen measurement in the United States). Specific details will be announced after December 12, and Apple emphasizes that it will resume normal sales of affected products as soon as possible.
On the other hand, Apple actually filed design patent infringement charges against Masimo in October last year, claiming that the smartwatch it launched copied the Apple Watch.
