Apple the tech giant’s Watch patent dispute with Masimo has finally reached verdict. As per a federal jury in California Apple owes medical-monitoring technology company Masimo $634M for infringing a medical device patent covering blood-oxygen reading technology. The jury agreed that the Apple Watch models legally qualify as “patient monitors.”
Masimo in a statement said, just after the verdict that, “this is a significant win in our ongoing efforts to protect our innovations and intellectual property, which is crucial to our ability to develop technology that benefits patients. We remain committed to defending our IP rights moving forward.”
As per an Apple spokesperson, the company disagrees with the verdict and will appeal. He said, “Over the past six years (Masimo has) sued Apple in multiple courts and asserted over 25 patents, the majority of which have been found to be invalid. “The single patent in this case expired in 2022 and is specific to historic patient monitoring technology from decades ago.”
Masimo wins Apple case
Masimo wins the Apple case as the Jury agreed with the tech company that the Apple Watch’s workout mode and heart rate notification features violated Masimo’s patent rights. This was confirmed by the spokesperson from Masimo.
Medical Device Patent Infringement
The California lawsuit is one branch of a contentious, multi-front patent fight between Apple and Irvine, California-based Masimo, which has accused Apple of hiring away its employees and stealing its pulse oximetry technology to use in Apple Watches.
The dispute led a U.S. trade tribunal to block imports of Apple’s Series 9 and Ultra 2 smartwatches in 2023 after finding that Apple’s technology infringed Masimo’s patents.
It was a sweeping verdict that caps a yearslong fight over whether Apple misappropriated medical-grade monitoring technology and integrated it into consumer wearables sold between 2020 and 2022.
Jurors accepted Masimo’s position that Apple incorporated its patented pulse-oximetry features into roughly 43 million watches, rejecting Apple’s argument that any damages should be limited to between $3 million and $6 million. Masimo had sought royalties ranging from $634 million to $749 million. The verdict represents one of the largest patent awards ever returned in the Central District of California involving consumer technology.
Apple Watch patent dispute
The reason for the dispute was whether an Apple Watch can be considered a “patient monitor” for purposes of Masimo’s patent. As per Apple, the term refers only to devices designed for continuous clinical monitoring that cannot miss critical medical events.
Earlier too Apple lost against Masimo, which bested the tech giant in January 2023 when an International Trade Commission judge ruled
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