2023-12-20 00:25:01
apple (AAPL-US) Apple Watch 9 Series and Ultra 2 announced that they would suspend sales in the United States due to blood oxygen monitoring patent infringement in response to a potential injunction. Masimo, an American medical and biotech company that is in litigation with Apple (MASI-US) said on Tuesday (19th) that it was “open to reconciliation” with the other party, but Apple had not contacted Masimo.
Regarding the possibility of settlement, Masimo CEO Joe Kiani gave a short answer in the affirmative in an exclusive interview with Bloomberg TV, although he did not disclose the amount of compensation he planned to seek from Apple.
“I’d love to work with Apple to improve their products,” Kiani said. “But they haven’t contacted us. A slap in the face doesn’t make a difference.”
He said settlement talks required “honest dialogue” and an apology.
The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) ruled earlier this year that Apple Watch infringed two patents related to Masimo blood oxygen sensing technology and imposed a ban on Ultra 2 and Series 9, scheduled to take effect on December 25.
Although the ban will only affect Apple’s own retail channels and channels such as Best Buy and Target will not be affected, it has put Apple in the rare situation of being forced to miss the new watch during the year-end shopping season. Apple Watch brought in regarding $17 billion in revenue for Apple in the year to September.
Kiani, who has been in the medical technology industry for many years, revealed that the last time he talked with Apple was back in 2013, when Apple discussed acquiring Masi or recruiting Kiani to Apple to develop internal technology.
An Apple spokesman said on Monday that the ITC’s ruling was wrong and should be overturned, and that Apple planned to appeal.
However, at the same time, Apple has also begun preparations for the ban. It will remove two watches from the official website starting from Thursday (21st), and will also be removed from physical stores on Christmas Eve (24th).
Kiani believes that Apple’s move is intended to pressure the Biden administration to veto the ban. The President of the United States has the power to step in and overturn the ITC ban. “This was not an accidental infringement, but a deliberate infringement of our intellectual property rights,” Kiani said.
Kiani also accused Apple of poaching more than 20 engineers from Masimo, some of whom had their salaries doubled, to find talent who might develop similar technology for the Apple Watch.
Bloomberg reported earlier on the same day that Apple is working on Apple Watch software updates, which it believes will resolve the ITC dispute. However, Kiani believes that it will not help because these patents cannot be patched by software alone, and the hardware also needs to be changed.
Kiani said that if the Apple Watch is made in the United States and uses American components, it is expected to be exempt from the import ban. Masimo’s technology is developed in the United States.
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