Apple, Masimo spar over Apple Watch import ban at US appeals court

Apple AAPL asked a U.S. appeals court on Monday to overturn a trade tribunal's decision which forced it to remove blood-oxygen reading technology from its Apple Watches, in order to avoid a ban on its U.S. smartwatch imports.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit heard arguments from the tech giant, medical monitoring technology company Masimo MASI, and the U.S. International Trade Commission over the ITC's 2023 ruling that Apple Watches violated Masimo's patent rights in pulse oximetry technology.

Apple attorney Joseph Mueller of WilmerHale told the court on Monday that the decision had wrongly "deprived millions of Apple Watch users" of Apple's blood-oxygen feature. A lawyer for Masimo, Joseph Re of Knobbe Martens Olson & Bear, countered that Apple was trying to "rewrite the law" with its arguments.

The judges questioned whether Masimo's development of a competing smartwatch justified the ITC's ruling. Apple has told the appeals court that the ban was improper because a Masimo wearable device covered by the patents was "purely hypothetical" when Masimo filed its ITC complaint in 2021.

Irvine, California-based Masimo has accused Apple of hiring its employees and stealing its pulse oximetry technology after discussing a potential collaboration.

Apple first introduced pulse oximetry in its Series 6 Apple Watches in 2020. Masimo released its blood-oxygen tracking W1 watch in 2022.

Masimo convinced the ITC to block imports of Apple's Series 9 and Ultra 2 smartwatches in 2023, based on the commission's determination that Apple's technology for reading blood-oxygen levels infringed upon Masimo's patents.

Apple temporarily resumed sales of the watches the next day after persuading the Federal Circuit to pause the ban. The Federal Circuit reinstated the ban the next month, leading Apple to remove pulse oximetry capabilities from its watches in the United States.

Mueller told the court on Monday that the ban was unjustified because Masimo only had prototypes of a smartwatch with pulse oximetry features when it had filed its ITC complaint. Re responded that Apple was wrong to argue that a "finished product" was necessary to justify the ITC's decision.

The case is Apple Inc v. ITC, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, No. 24-1285.

For Apple: Joseph Mueller of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale & Dorr

For Masimo: Joseph Re of Knobbe Martens Olson & Bear

For the ITC: Ronald Traud

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