US President Joe Biden will decide the fate of Apple Watch: Apple accused of patent infringement, which could lead to a ban on watch imports to the US
Apple may ban imports of the Apple Watch smartwatch into the US due to violations of the law. The media reports that US President Joe Bilden himself will take up the issue.
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Last month, an International Trade Commission (ITC) judge ruled that Apple had infringed a patent owned by medical device maker AliveCor. It relates to the blood oxygen measurement feature of the Apple Watch smartwatch.
In doing so, Apple was acquitted of infringing four other AliveCor patents. But even one patent could lead to a ban on gadget imports into the US. The media reports that the company has increased its lobbying efforts at a "very high level". More specifically, by next Monday, President Biden will have to decide whether to veto the import ban or take the case to court.
Incidentally, there was a similar situation in 2013 when the ITC found that Apple had infringed a Samsung patent. At that time, President Barack Obama's administration vetoed the ban, which would have affected older models such as the iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPad 3G, iPad 2 3G and iPad 3, which were only sold by AT&T.
The CEO of AliveCor says that Apple has unlimited options: "We come up with new technologies, and instead of the ecosystem letting us thrive and continue to build on top of the innovations we already have, Apple cuts us out up front, steals our technology, uses their platform power to scale it".
Source: PhoneArena