2024-01-16 02:52:00
The United States International Trade Commission ruled that Apple’s next-generation smartwatches (belonging to the Series 9 and Ultra 2 families) violate Masimo patents related to the measurement of blood oxygen, known as pulse oximetry. Reference image.
Photo: Photographer: Jeenah Moon/Bloomber – Jeenah Moon
Apple will remove the blood oxygen monitoring function from its latest smart watches. The reason has to do with a ban by the US Government.
It all starts with a patent dispute between the iPhone maker and Masimo, a pharmaceutical technology company, involving the United States Customs and Border Protection. In October, the International Trade Commission (ITC) ruled that Apple’s next-generation smartwatches (belonging to the Series 9 and Ultra 2 families) violate Masimo patents related to blood oxygen measurement, what is known as pulse oximetry.
This led Apple to suspend sales of smartwatches just before Christmas, although an interim suspension allowed the company to return to marketing these products late last month.
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This Monday, January 15, Masimo reported that the decision of the United States Customs and Border Protection does not imply that Apple smartwatches will stop being imported into that country, but that the manufacturer will only have to eliminate the pulse oximetry function to maintain their watches on the market.
The iPhone maker developed an alternative software solution to circumvent the dispute and last week submitted the adjustment to the customs agency in charge of enforcing import bans. Apple explained that the redesigned watches “definitely” do not contain the technology in question.
Within the technology sector, the withdrawal of pulse oximetry technology from the Apple Watch was described as a “drastic” decision.
However, all is not lost for Apple. The company’s engineers are working on a software update that changes the blood oxygen app and its algorithms in a way that might avoid the patent issue. To date, removing the feature is probably the fastest way to avoid sanctions from US Customs and Border Protection, which may include banning the import of these gadgets.
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“Apple may have paid a high price to circumvent a US import ban,” said Tamlin Bason, an analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence.
The function of measuring blood oxygen was highly promoted, so its removal might affect customer demand.
Apple’s operations team has already begun shipping modified Series 9 and Ultra 2 watches to retail locations in the US. Stores were told not to open or sell the modified devices until they received approval from Apple’s corporate offices. Manzana. It is possible that those models are the new versions without the blood oxygen function.
Separately, a federal appeals court is expected to hear a motion by Apple to lift the ban this week. It should be noted that this measure was revoked on an emergency basis while Apple awaits a hearing.
Last week, the ITC urged an appeals court to reject “weak and unconvincing” arguments supporting an attempt to block the trade agency’s enforcement of the ban.
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