A US court says it’s actually fine for Apple to sell its fancy Watch models

They can sell them. They can sell them not. They can sell them!Photo: James D. Morgan/Getty Images (Getty Images)

A US appellate court has temporarily reversed a ban on US imports of the Apple Watch Ultra 2 and Apple Watch Series 9 models. It’s the latest chapter in a years-long patent dispute between Apple and a medical device company called Masimo.

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Masimo sued Apple in 2020 for stealing the technology that higher-end Apple Watches use for their blood oxygen monitor features, arguing that it was too similar to the light-based pulse oximeter used in a similar piece of Masimo hardware. That suit ended in a mistrial, but a parallel appeal to the US International Trade Commission (ITC) got Masimo the outcome it wanted. The ITC imposed the import ban, which makes it difficult to sell the watches in America because they are manufactured overseas.

After the ruling was handed down in October, the Biden administration declined to veto it by a Christmas deadline. Apple then filed an appeal, with the court today (Dec. 27) issuing a temporary stay on the ITC’s ban. Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding the ruling.

Another wrinkle

Amidst the courtroom volleyball, Bloomberg surfaced a 2013 email from one of the key engineers on the original Apple Watch, Marcelo Lamego. He had been working at a Masimo and its sister company for a decade when Apple began meeting with Masimo during the Apple Watch’s development.

“I have developed several medical devices in last 10 years and I am positively sure I could add a significant value to the Apple team,” the Bloomberg copy of the email reads.

Lamego left Masimo that year for a job at Apple, though he would also end up leaving Apple the next year. The Apple Watch would debut in 2015. Masimo wasn’t formally part of its development, and the unfruitful meetings would spur its 2020 lawsuit.

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