It hasn’t been a good few weeks for Apple and the Apple Watch, at least in the United States. The company saw itsApple Watch Series 9andApple Watch Ultra 2warables banned in the country over Christmas due to a patent infringement case with medical device maker Masimo. Apple had already appealed the ban and a short stay was put in place – but that all changed today with the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit lifting the stay, which will once again prevent Apple from selling its twobest Apple Watcheson its home turf.
The move means that Apple can no longer sell the Apple Watch Series 9 or Apple Watch Ultra 2, while an import ban on the prodcuts means that third-party retailers will only be able to sell the inventory that they currently have. Once they run out of those two Apple Watch models, they’re gone until the situation is resolved. How that will happen isn’t immediately clear, however.
Apple Watch ban: Everything you need to know
What Apple’s ITC ban means for current Apple Watch owners, and how we got here.
Banned again, what happens next?
The news was first reported byBloomberg’sMark Gurman who confirmed that Apple has to stop selling the patent-infringing models starting Thursday, Jan. 18 at 5pm EST. This comes after the court declined to grant Apple a longer pause on the import ban that was originally imposed by the US International Trade Commission.
At the heart of the matter is the blood oxygen monitoring technology used in the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2. Apple was found to have infringed upon two Masimo patents for the technology, and while the company has previously hinted that Apple could license it, the Cupertino firm has so far decided against such an approach. Now, Apple will be forced to come up with an alternative solution.
Apple prepares to sidestep Apple Watch ban by disabling blood oxygen sensor
According to a court filing, US Customs says redesigned models would not infringe on Masimo’s patents.
With the ban now likely to stay in place until after the Apple’s patent appeal is concluded the company is faced with only bad options. It’s now expected that Apple will choose toremove the blood oxygen functionalityfrom future Apple Watches to get around the issue, a workaround that is far from ideal. The sensor has been avialable on high-end Apple Watches since 2020, although the Apple Watch SE models do not feature it. That means the currentApple Watch SEis unaffected by this ban.
