Recently, the US Federal Circuit Court of Appeals denied Apple’s request to maintain a stay on the sales ban of the Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 during the appeal process of that decision. This means that, starting today, January 18th, the sales ban will be reinstated for Apple Watch models that have a blood oxygen sensor, including the Series 9 and Ultra 2. Is this a temporary situation?
A temporary situation, clearly
Not even that, because Apple will continue selling these watches, but with an important change, at least in the short term. Without getting ahead of ourselves, let’s remember that this situation arises after the United States International Trade Commission (ITC) ordered the import and sale ban, considering that Apple infringed Masimo’s oximetry patents with the blood oxygen detection feature, introduced for the first time in the Apple Watch Series 6 in 2020.
While the decision to pause the ban during the appeal has not had an effect for Apple, the appeal is still ongoing. As Apple has communicated to 9to5mac, “Pending the appeal, Apple is taking steps to comply with the ruling while ensuring that customers have access to the Apple Watch with minimal interruptions. These steps include the introduction of a version of the Apple Watch Series 9 and the Apple Watch Ultra 2 in the United States without the blood oxygen measurement feature. There is no impact on previously purchased Apple Watch units that include the blood oxygen feature.”
By deactivating the sensor via software, Apple can continue selling the latest models of Apple Watch while the court decides if the company has actually infringed the patents in question. In any case, we expect improvements. Why? Because if the court rules that Apple has not infringed any patent, a simple software update will restore the oxygen measurement to all watches purchased with this feature disabled. And if it turns out that there is an infringement on the patents, Apple will have had more time to prepare a new operation of the oxygen sensor free of any patent, so sooner or later the functionality will also return.
