Cupertino's current Apple Watch models do not violate Masimo patents, a judge decides

The saga continues. After several Apple Watch models were found to be infringing on another company's patents and were banned from being imported into the US, Apple changed its smartwatches' design. Late last year, a federal jury ordered Apple to pay Masimo $634 million for infringing on blood oxygen monitoring patents.

Now, a judge says the new Apple Watch models probably don't break the rules, but the legal battle is far from over, as it's still ongoing in multiple courts.

Neither side will cave in

The redesigned Apple Watches don't infringe Masimo's patents that have to do with blood-oxygen monitoring technology, an ITC (International Trade Commission) judge said mere hours ago, Reuters reports.

However, the case is still not fully settled, as the full commission of the US International Trade Commission will have to review the judge's decision and only then could a decision on its eventual confirmation be made. Separately, another court – the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit – confirmed the earlier 2023 ruling that Apple's older watch design did violate Masimo's patents.

In a statement, Cupertino says it is pleased with the ITC's decision, while it would evaluate "all avenues for further review" of the Federal Circuit's ruling. Apple says that in the past six years, Masimo has "brought dozens of false claims" against Cupertino, "nearly all of which have been rejected". Masimo's spokespersons haven't yet commented for Reuters.

A serious fight

The dispute is part of the long and complicated patent fight between Apple and Masimo, a medical technology company based in Irvine, California. Masimo has accused Apple of recruiting some of its employees and using their expertise to develop pulse-oximetry technology that measures oxygen levels in the blood.

In December 2023, the US International Trade Commission ruled that certain Apple Watch models (including the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2), infringed Masimo's patents. As a result, Apple was temporarily blocked from importing those watches into the US.

To work around the ban, Apple removed the blood-oxygen monitoring feature from its watches. The company later introduced an updated version of the technology in August, after receiving approval from US Customs and Border Protection. Masimo has since filed a separate lawsuit challenging that approval.

In the revised version of the feature, blood-oxygen readings are processed and displayed on connected Apple devices such as the Apple iPhone, rather than directly on the watch itself, which is how Apple's original implementation worked. Some might say it's a clever comeback, but I'm sure Masimo execs are not smiling at all.