The Apple Enthusiast

If you haven’t heard already, the Apple Watch has been banned (at least the Series 9 and Ultra 2 models). This is due to an ongoing patent dispute with health technology company, Masimo. Let’s dive in.

Here’s a bit of history with Apple and Masimo from The Verge,

This ban is the result of a long-standing patent dispute between Apple and the medical device maker Masimo. The latter is known for its pulse oximetry tech, generally referred to as SpO2 or blood oxygen saturation in the wearable world, and it claims that Apple is using that patented technology without permission.

The Verge shows more information on the start of this dispute between the medical technology company,

This particular story started about 10 years ago when Apple reached out to Masimo about a potential partnership around blood oxygen features on its wearables. Soon after, Apple reportedly poached several Masimo engineers and its chief medical officer. And then in fall 2020, Apple released the Apple Watch Series 6 — its first Apple Watch to feature an SpO2 sensor to measure blood oxygen saturation levels. (From The Verge).

Here’s what I think of this: Apple and its employees try their best in every way to keep everything honest. Apple even has a Business Conduct section of its company. They have a section of their website dedicated for Ethics and Compliance, check out more here: apple.com/compliance. Since Apple has around 161,000 employees, there would be many, many, checks and balances with each action done to make sure that there is no plagiarism or stealing in the process. I’m almost positive Apple would not have intentionally tried to steal Masimo’s patents, even though it looks that way from the text above. It seems a little suspicious how the ban has come into effect now, since the first Blood Oxygen sensor in an Apple Watch was released back in 2020. It seems to me that Masimo is trying to find a way to sue or get at Apple. It looks like they have hopes of Apple paying them the amount they want, since Apple is a trillion dollar company and willing to do so. Or, maybe I am completely wrong and have not read enough online about it, but my hypothesis seems pretty accurate.

Let me tell what has happened though in this case. The first major movement happened with the ruling of the ITC (International Trade Commission) stating that Apple has violated parts of Masimo’s patents. The case was then sent to the president, giving him the opportunity to veto the ban. This caused Apple to life the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 from the online website and Apple stores. Apple made that announcement on December 19, but it did not go into effect until the 21st. Apple ‘strongly’ disagreed with the ban and was working on technical and legal solutions to bring the devices back to market after the 21st. Apple offically appealed the ITC’s ruling on the 27th. On December 28, after an import ban was temporarily paused by an appeals court, after just a week, the two banned Apple Watches were then available for purchase in store, and online. But, nobody knows how long they will be available now. Remember, the ban was temporarily paused by an appeals court, so who knows what might come next. Below I have made a timeline based upon 9to5mac’s article regarding the events surrounding the Apple Watch ban. Each link will take you to the 9to5mac article for each news event.

Overall, there has been an ongoing dispute between Masimo and Apple that has led to a ban of the Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2. It currently has been temporarily paused, but it is unknown what might happen next. We will just have to wait and see what happens in the news and how the world reacts.