Apple is making another attempt to challenge the trade ban that forced it to remove the blood oxygen sensor from its smartwatch, Reuters reports. The company was forced to remove this feature in 2024 after a decision by the International Trade Commission (ITC) in 2023, which banned Apple Watch sales due to patent infringement by healthcare technology startup Masimo.
On Monday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit heard new arguments from Apple and Masimo’s lawyers regarding the legality of the original ITC ban. Apple’s argument is that the fact that Masimo was developing its own smartwatch when Apple released the Apple Watch Series 6 in 2020 – the company’s first device with a blood oxygen sensor – should not be enough to justify the ban. Mazimo disagrees.
The Court of Appeals has already considered the company’s arguments before and even briefly suspended the trade ban in December 2023 while the ITC considered Apple’s request for a longer pause. Ultimately, the ITC ruled in favor of Masimo and denied Apple’s request. In 2024, Apple removed the blood oxygen sensor to resume sales of the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 in the United States.
The companies’ fight is not limited to the blood oxygen sensor-ironically, Masimo’s smartwatches infringe on Apple’s patents-but it is clear that Apple is fixated on this feature. The company’s blood oxygen sensor was never as accurate as the pulse oximeters used in doctor’s offices, but it was part of a fairly comprehensive set of heart health features on a smartwatch. It’s possible that Apple wants to reintroduce it into its watches as part of an even more ambitious health feature in the future.
