Apple Watch infringes Masimo pulse oximetry patent, rules judge

The International Trade Commission (ITC) has backed medical firm Masimo in its case alleging patent infringement in the blood oxygen sensors of the Apple Watch.

Masimo's complaint with the ITC followed its 2020 lawsuit against Apple over the same accusation. The filing with the ITC was then in June 2021, and the aim in both cases is to see a ban on the Apple Watch Series 6 and later.

The number of specific patents concerned varies between the lawsuit and the ITC complaint. The ITC judge has ruled that Apple violated Section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930 by infringing on one of Masimo's patents.

"We are happy that the ALJ recognized Apple's infringement of Masimo's pulse oximetry technology and took this critical first step toward accountability," Joe Kiani, Masimo CEO wrote in a statement sent to AppleInsider. "Today's decision should help restore fairness in the market. Apple has similarly infringed on other companies' technologies, and we believe today's ruling exposes Apple as a company that takes other companies' innovations and repackages them."

In a statement to Reuters, an Apple spokesperson said that "We respectfully disagree with today's decision, and look forward to a full review by the Commission."

It's in that full review that the ITC will now consider a ban on the Apple Watch.

Masimo is not the only company pressing for a ban over the Apple Watch's health features allegedly infringing on other firms' patents. The ITC has previously also backed AliveCor's allegation that Apple infringed on its ECG technology.

14 Comments

Applejacs 39 comments · 2 Years

About 1 year ago

Ok, so Apple cuts a check for how much?

beowulfschmidt 2348 comments · 12 Years

Applejacs said:

Ok, so Apple cuts a check for how much?

Ideally, it would be the amount of money they made from the infringement. But for a long time, it's been well worth it for Apple to infringe and then pay some pittance to make the problem go away. The only way to stop infringement is to impose penalties that actually matter.

I know exactly how likely that is though, given how much corporations "contribute to" legislators.

chadbag 2026 comments · 13 Years

beowulfschmidt said:

Applejacs said:

Ok, so Apple cuts a check for how much?

Ideally, it would be the amount of money they made from the infringement. But for a long time, it's been well worth it for Apple to infringe and then pay some pittance to make the problem go away. The only way to stop infringement is to impose penalties that actually matter.

I know exactly how likely that is though, given how much corporations "contribute to" legislators.

Pray, tell. How do you calculate how much Apple made from the claimed infringement? If such a simple matter you should be able to enlighten us on the method.

(I said “claimed” as the matter is not settled. This was just the next step).

chadbag said:

beowulfschmidt said:

Applejacs said:

Ok, so Apple cuts a check for how much?

Ideally, it would be the amount of money they made from the infringement. But for a long time, it's been well worth it for Apple to infringe and then pay some pittance to make the problem go away. The only way to stop infringement is to impose penalties that actually matter.

I know exactly how likely that is though, given how much corporations "contribute to" legislators.

Pray, tell. How do you calculate how much Apple made from the claimed infringement? If such a simple matter you should be able to enlighten us on the method.
(I said “claimed” as the matter is not settled. This was just the next step).

Pray tell, where did I say it would be simple? I don't seen it; enlighten me.

rcomeau 85 comments · 13 Years

chadbag said:

beowulfschmidt said:

Applejacs said:

Ok, so Apple cuts a check for how much?

Ideally, it would be the amount of money they made from the infringement. But for a long time, it's been well worth it for Apple to infringe and then pay some pittance to make the problem go away. The only way to stop infringement is to impose penalties that actually matter.

I know exactly how likely that is though, given how much corporations "contribute to" legislators.

Pray, tell. How do you calculate how much Apple made from the claimed infringement? If such a simple matter you should be able to enlighten us on the method.
(I said “claimed” as the matter is not settled. This was just the next step).

Simple. File the case in that county in Texas that seems to be good at adding massive punitive damages to these cases, so the infringer ends up on the hook for hundreds of millions (which gets reduced later by some other court, but is still a big enough number to mater).