Katarzyna Petru
Apple has just announced a "redesigned" blood oxygen measurement feature in the Apple Watch, and Masimo is pulling out the heavy artillery again. The medical manufacturer has long fought with the Cupertino giant over patents, but this time the matter has taken an interesting turn – the lawsuit was not filed directly against Apple, but… against the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
Let's take a step back
The story began a few years ago when Masimo accused Apple of patent infringement in the blood oxygen measurement feature. The case dragged on indefinitely and ended in December 2023 with a ban on importing Apple Watch with this feature to the US market.
Apple paused sales for a moment, but quickly found a way out – Series 9 and Ultra 2 returned to stores, only with the feature disabled. The hardware was the same; only the software was different.
And then – surprise. Last Thursday, Apple announced that it is returning with the oxygen measurement but in a different form. Now the data is calculated on the iPhone, not on the watch itself.
Why is Masimo attacking CBP?
On August 1, CBP suddenly changed its mind and allowed Apple to import devices with the new version of the feature. The problem is that – according to Masimo – everything happened quietly, without notification and without the possibility of defense. The company learned about it only when Apple officially announced the return of oxygen measurement.
Masimo directly accuses CBP of "without any justification and in an ex parte manner" reversing its earlier decision. Now, it is asking the court to suspend this change and reinstate the original ban.
The stakes are high
Masimo claims that every day of delay deprives them of a fair chance for competition in the U.S. market. In practice, CBP was supposed to "neutralize" the earlier ITC ban. Meanwhile, Apple's appeal is still pending in federal court and waiting to be addressed.
Will the Apple Watch get banned again?
Masimo is going all in – this time not only against Apple but also against the American administration. If the court agrees to their request, Apple could once again lose the right to sell watches with blood oxygen monitoring features in the USA.
The question is: will David manage to stop Goliath this time?
