Newsletter
Apple is disabling the blood oxygen monitoring feature on the Watch Series 9 and Watch Ultra 2. This will enable the Cupertino-based tech giant to overcome the ban on the sale of both smartwatches in the US issued by the ITC late last year. For those unaware, the ban is due to the patent infringement case related to blood oxygen sensors slapped on Apple by health tech brand Masimo.
Apple will disable blood oxygen monitoring on Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2
The ban on the sale of Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 went into effect from December 26. However, the company made an emergency filing to the US Court of Appeals to halt the order issued by ITC. With the temporary pause on the ban, both smartwatches went on sale helping the brand get through the holiday season. During that time, Apple has also been working on making changes to avoid Masimo’s patents.
The US Customs and Border Protection determined that Apple can use a redesign to bypass an import ban on the newer Watch models. The redesign means that the company will remove the blood oxygen functionality on the Watch Series 9 and Watch Ultra 2. 9to5Mac shared a letter from Masimo’s attorneys stating that Apple’s redesign falls outside the scope of the ITC ruling. Both smartwatches do not infringe Masimo’s patents as long as they don’t have any pulse oximetry features. Additionally, the patent dispute does not affect owners of the existing models with blood oxygen. Such units continue to be available as per Apple spokesperson Nikki Rothberg.
US Appeals Court to decide on Apple Watch ban
The US Court of Appeals is set to come out with a decision on whether or not to pause the ban on Apple Watch throughout the duration of the appeal process. The Cupertino-based tech giant expects this to take at least a year. The company will get time to work on its OS and hardware to avoid Masimo’s patents if it wins the appeal. On the other hand, the removal of the pulse oximeter is very much on the cards if the appeal fails.
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman also reports that the modified watches have been shipped to Apple retail stores. However, the stores have been instructed not to sell those units until they receive word from the corporate.