Apple has filed a 916-page appeal against a sales ban on the Apple Watch with blood oxygen sensing features
There was no doubt that Apple would challenge the decision to ban sales of the Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 smart watches with blood oxygen level measurement in the US. And that's exactly what happened.
For those not in the know
Late last year, the US International Trade Commission (ITC) ruled to ban the importation of certain Apple Watches into the US. The ITC found that Apple had infringed Masimo's patents related to the operation of the SpO2 measurement sensor. The ban concerned the new Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 models.
As a result, the company had to prepare modified watch models without a pulse oximeter to circumvent the ban. Apple, of course, does not agree in patent infringement and intends to prove its case in court.
Here's What We Know
The other day Apple filed an appeal, and prepared for it very seriously: the document contains a total of 916 pages. It is a 68-page summary, more than 300 pages of description of the appealed ITC decision, hundreds of pages from the Patent Office and much more.
The most important thing from this document is, as Apple argues, that not only was Masimo not primarily known for its clinical pulse oximeters, but it didn't even have an actual smart watch at the time the complaint was filed. Masimo filed with the ITC in 2021, and its W1 smartwatch didn't come out until 2022. Masimo only provided the court with CAD drawings as evidence.
Essentially, Apple is trying to argue that there was no real case - no watch or products - at the time the complaint was filed with the ITC and therefore the ban should be lifted.
Apple is also concerned that other companies that don't have any actual products, but that have creativity and software, may follow suit and sue manufacturers. Incidentally, there are already such cases. Another medical company, AliveCor, asked the ITC to ban the Apple Watch because Apple allegedly infringed on AliveCor's ECG technology.
Source: The Verge
