A U.S. judge ruled on Tuesday (10th) that Apple’s smart watch Series 6 infringes one of five patents of medical technology company Masimo related to the use of light sensors to measure oxygen levels in the blood.
Masimo, a medical device company with pulse oximetry core technology, previously filed a lawsuit with the United States International Trade Commission (USITC). The function of measuring blood oxygen through light in the Apple Smart Watch Apple Watch Series 6 infringes on 5 Masimo patents. The company emphasizes that, These technologies are at the heart of their business.
U.S. Judge Monica Bhattacharyya preliminarily ruled on Tuesday that Apple’s Apple Watch Series 6 infringes one of five Masimo patents related to the use of a light sensor to measure oxygen levels in the blood.
The US International Trade Commission will complete its investigation into the Series 6 smartwatch by May 10. Masimo said the U.S. International Trade Commission will consider whether to impose a ban on the Apple Watches.
Affected by this news, Apple (AAPL-US) shares fell slightly by more than 0.076% following hours on Tuesday. Masimo (MASI-US) shares soared more than 5.5% following hours.
The legal battle between Masimo and Apple began in 2020.
Masimo accused Apple’s smart watch Apple Watch of infringing 10 of the company’s patents and stealing the company’s trade secrets to apply related technologies to Apple Watch 4 and Apple Watch 5. Masimo will sue Apple once more in 2021, Apple Watch The function of measuring blood oxygen through light in Series 6 violates 5 patents of Masimo.
Apple denies infringing any of Masimo’s patents or stealing trade secrets, but is not to be outdone, and decided to sue Masimo in October 2022. Apple accused Masimo’s W1 Advanced Health Tracking Watch as a counterfeit Apple Watch and infringed on multiple Apple patents.
Bloomberg analyst Tamlin Bason speculates that Apple may eventually reach a settlement with Masimo, estimating annual licensing payments of $50 million to $300 million.
Masimo is a global medical technology company with a history of more than 30 years. Its core business is to measure various physiological data including blood oxygen. Its technology mainly irradiates blood vessels through two LEDs, measures the degree of light absorption and converts it into blood oxygen index.
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