Apple is finally settling its legal issues with the company Masimo over the blood oxygen sensor in certain Apple Watch models.
A recent court filing revealed that Apple has made changes to its Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 models. The filing by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit stated that Apple explained “that its Redesigned Watch Products definitively (i) do not contain the pulse oximeter functionality…”
For now, the change applies to the models being sold in the U.S. only. So, customers in other countries can still enjoy the Blood Oxygen app featuring the pulse oximeter capability.
To recap the whole situation between the two tech companies, Masimo Corporation initially sued Apple for infringing its patent rights on the pulse oximeter technology in January 2023.
After that, more developments were seen towards the end of last year.
In October 2023, U.S. President Joe Biden was given 60 days to review the ruling that called for a ban on Apple Watch imports. On December 18, 2023, Apple announced that it would suspend selling its Apple Watch Series 9 products for some time.
This meant that users could not purchase the latest Apple Watch online or via Apple retail stores.
However, in third-party stores such as Amazon, they were available, at least until the inventory ran out.
Then, fortunately for Apple, on December 27, 2023, the U.S. court called for the import ban to be removed. This gave Apple the green light to sell new units to third-party stores and to resume sales of the Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 in its stores.
MacRumors highlighted that the redesigned version of the Apple Watch is now being shipped to stores in the U.S. While these Watches will be stripped of the capability, existing owners of the Watches can still use the pulse oximeter.
A Masimo spokesperson commented on the recent developments stating:
"Apple"s claim that its redesigned watch does not contain pulse oximetry is a positive step toward accountability. It is especially important that one of the world"s largest and most powerful companies respects the intellectual property rights of smaller companies and complies with ITC orders when it is caught infringing."
As of now, Apple has not responded to requests for comments. It is also yet to reveal the date when the latest units will go on sale in stores.
Via: MacRumors