In response to an ongoing legal dispute over patent infringement, Apple has announced the removal of a central feature from two of its flagship watch models in the United States. The Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 models, slated for release on Thursday, will no longer include the blood oxygen tracking feature, a decision prompted by a ban imposed in October by a government commission.
The ban, initiated following a complaint from medical-monitoring technology company Masimo, alleged that Apple had violated patents and incorporated Masimo’s pulse oximetry technology into its watches. Masimo further accused Apple of recruiting its employees. While Apple appealed against the ban, the US Court of Appeals temporarily lifted the ban in December. However, a recent ruling by the same court has reinstated the ban pending the resolution of Apple’s appeal against the US International Trade Commission’s (ITC) order.
In response to the court’s decision, Joe Kiani, Masimo’s founder and chief executive, emphasized that the ruling underscores the importance of even the largest companies respecting the intellectual rights of American inventors. Apple expressed strong disagreement with the original decision of the ITC and emphasized its intention to have the ruling reversed. As a result of the legal developments, Apple has disabled the blood oxygen function in compliance with the court order.
The legal proceedings are anticipated to extend over a year, and industry analysts had anticipated that Apple would choose to disable the feature rather than withdraw devices from sale in one of its significant markets. It’s important to note that existing Apple Watches and devices sold outside the US remain unaffected by the court orders. The new versions sold in the US still display an app icon for the blood oxygen feature, but customers will find it inaccessible, according to Apple’s statement.
