Following a legal battle over patented technology, Apple announced it would be removing its blood oxygen monitoring feature from Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 models
Apple drops smartwatch feature over court battle
Without this feature, the models are due to go on sale on Thursday morning at 14:00 GMT.
The technology giant announced on Wednesday after the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled in favour of medical technology company Masimo.
According to a Reuters report, the US International Trade Commission (ITC) backed Masimo’s claim that Apple bribed and hired its employees and stole patented technology relating to pulse oximetry technology to use in Apple Watches.
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Imports and sales were barred after Masimo lodged its complaint with ITC. According to Counterpoint Research, Apple Watches make up approximately 25% of all global smartwatch sales.
Masimo’s founder and CEO, Joe Kiani, expressed confidence in the court ruling:
[It] affirms that even the largest and most powerful companies must respect the intellectual rights of American inventors and must deal with the consequences when they are caught infringing others’ patents.
To no surprise, Apple “strongly disagreed” with the decision to bar its smartwatches, although its existing watches and those sold outside the US were unaffected. Apple’s financials from 2023 did not break down smartwatch sales specifically, but North America contributed to 42% of its global profits last year.
