A federal appeals court reportedly ruled on Tuesday that Apple can’t keep selling its Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 in the US with the blood oxygen feature under a patent dispute, according to Bloomberg. The company had initially stopped selling the wearables because of an ongoing legal battle with health tech company Masimo over the blood oxygen detection feature in those watches and had resumed selling them over the holidays before this latest decision by the federal appeals court.
The US International Trade Commission, the federal agency that handles trade-related mandates, previously issued an order that would prohibit Apple from importing the Series 9 and Ultra 2. The decision came after a US judge ruled in January that Apple had infringed on Masimo patents related to the technology used in Apple’s blood oxygen sensing system. The order was under presidential review until Dec. 25 and became final on Dec. 26 after US Trade Representative Katherine Tai decided not to reverse the ITC’s decision.
Apple received a temporary win in December after an Appeals Court paused the ban, allowing Apple to resume selling the devices. While Apple waited for the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit to weigh in on the issue, the company set up a plan to sell versions of the Apple Watch 9 and Ultra 2 that had pulled the blood oxygen monitoring features subject to the dispute, according to Bloomberg.
“Apple strongly disagrees with the ITC’s decision. In addition to the appeal at the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, Apple is vigorously pursuing legal and technical options to ensure that we can continue to provide consumers with Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2, including having submitted a proposed redesigned Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 for US Customs approval,” Apple’s statement said.
The Apple Watch is one of Apple’s most important products and has helped make the company’s wearables, home and accessories business its second-largest product category, behind the iPhone. Apple has previously said the size of its wearables unit alone equals that of a Fortune 150 company. Smartwatches were also among the top products sold during the Black Friday period, according to holiday shopping data from Adobe.
Apple began pausing online sales of the affected watches on Dec. 21 and halted in-store sales on Dec. 24. The ITC order specifically applies to sales of the Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 through Apple in the US. The watches have remained on sale through Best Buy, Amazon, Walmart and Target. The Apple Watch SE, which doesn’t include a blood oxygen detection feature, is not affected.
Article source: https://www.cnet.com/tech/mobile/apple-watch-series-9-and-ultra-2-ban-can-you-buy-and-what-you-need-to-know/#ftag=CAD4aa2096