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Before people rush here accusing them of patent trolling, just think whether apple would do the same if the other company infringed apples patents.
Masimo is far from a patent troll. Its tech is used in hospitals in the US, Canada and Middle East. It absolutely dominates pulse oximetry in NICU.

Source: when my son was in the NICU, I just got talking with the doctors and the nurses there.
 
Masimo is far from a patent troll. Its tech is used in hospitals in the US, Canada and Middle East. It absolutely dominates pulse oximetry in NICU.

Source: when my son was in the NICU, I just got talking with the doctors and the nurses there.
So they have a monopoly and need to be broken up
 
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Fun to look back at this thread for all the comments saying Masimo is wasting their time trying to sue Apple.
This is far from over and not even close to the last level of courts that will have decision making authority over this.

The concept of patent on an idea or a concept of how you could do something is absurd.
 
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Ban will not happen as it has no benefit to the Masimo. It's only used as a bargaining chip to force payment and a licensing agreement by threatening Apple's much larger revenues. Apple could choose to disable the feature in the next watchOS release if Masimo's licensing fees are too high and both parties lose. Disabling the inaccurate blood oxygen measurement isn't a bad option for Apple as I doubt watch sales would be affected in any significant way. They may also decide to cross license some features and no cash changes hands. At the end of the day this is just a business transaction where both parties seek to maximize profits.
But disabling a feature means Apple will have to refund every Watch sold with said feature, so they’re probably not going for that option 🤔😅
 
So they have a monopoly and need to be broken up
I think you misunderstand what monopoly means. There are many pulse oximeters in the market...Masimo's is allegedly the most accurate. This is apparently more relevant in NICUs cause babies movements normally dislodge the oximeters, thus pushing wrong readings which in turn will prompt doctors to increase oxygen supply which in turn will lead to blindness in babies. Masimo's oximeters are super accurate even in these cases promoting many hospitals to opt for them in their NICUs.
 
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But disabling a feature means Apple will have to refund every Watch sold with said feature, so they’re probably not going for that option 🤔😅

Or maybe they can find some way to slightly "nuke it", like they did with the AirPodsPro/Max noise cancelling.

The ANC works maybe 70% as well as it did on my APMs vs when they were new (I've tried new ear pads)
 
They sneakily hired employees. Lol. Whatever. Patent system is a mess and very possible apple infringed which is a low bar but them complaining that apple took away their talent is just too funny. You don’t own your employees. Apple loses talent every day.
 

Fun to look back at this thread for all the comments saying Masimo is wasting their time trying to sue Apple.
The interesting part is that the claimed 5 patents and the other 4 were cleared. You can patent a specific method for implementing an idea, but not the idea itself.
 
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If an NDA or non-compete is in place and the employee violates it that’s on the employee. (Non competes are going to be throttled back by the FTC as anti competitive but they won’t apply to all employee classes, so this change might not apply here.)

Robert Reich presented an interesting view about non-compete clauses: that they are in a sense involuntary servitude. He writes:

Some 30 million Americans are trapped by contracts that say if they leave their current job, they can’t take a job with a rival company or start a new business of their own. These clauses deprive workers of higher wages and better working conditions. In effect, they’re a form of involuntary servitude. (Source: https://robertreich.substack.com/p/a-victory-for-competitive-capitalism )

I agree with him on that. To me, rather than viewing non-compete contracts as legally valid (as if legal is the highest form of -- what -- standard? Ha!) let's think moral ethical here. I think from a particular ethical perspective, non-competes ties down individuals in ways that restricts their use of their own skills and talent elsewhere.
 
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I am confused.... Rockley Photonics were public-ally touted as the supplier of the Sensor for the blood oxygen saturation sensor. I believe they provided this to Apple.

Shouldn't it be them that is sued ? Maybe the current sensor is an apple home grown one.

Related articles for future watches.
 
This is far from over and not even close to the last level of courts that will have decision making authority over this.

The concept of patent on an idea or a concept of how you could do something is absurd.
Has nothing to do with what I posted, but yeah…cool.
 
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Nonsense.

These companies actually add value to IP and help sustain the patent creation process.

A patent is a patent and must be respected whoever created or owns it.

The line that you are embracing only benefits companies who infringe patents and then try to artificially somehow distinguish between legitimate and illegitimate patents on the basis of who currently owns them.
In my opinion they stifle the patent process. if you add up the cost of litigation. How many new companies with what they think is a great device or invention are too afraid to bring it to market. No I stand by my comment. if a company has produced something with its IP then fair enough, but these companies whose only mode is buying up patents, some really old just to litigate...not right in my opinion.
 
I'd be shocked if they used anything from Apple.
Their W1 health monitor watch is nothing like an Apple Watch. Being square-ish is the only resemblance.
It's a health monitor... the "watch" portion is just a clock. There are no "smart" features beyond health tracking.
The problem is that there are so many patents, sometimes for the most obscure functions, that a company could theoretically be in breach for many things. If you look at the number of patents that apply to the Masimo watch it gives an idea of how extensive and difficult it is not to breach patents, and where some patents appear to be granted even with 'prior art' existing.
 
Masimo is far from a patent troll. Its tech is used in hospitals in the US, Canada and Middle East. It absolutely dominates pulse oximetry in NICU.

Source: when my son was in the NICU, I just got talking with the doctors and the nurses there.
Hope your son is feeling better and out of there!

BTW the apple watch oximeter , at least on my watch ,doesn't work that well: several times I got that couldn't measure because of insufficient data: my oxygen ?! 🙃
 
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It's funny how people pile on someone like Masimo for protecting their IP...

Do you have any idea what kind of blood sucking hound dog legal armies Apple would unleash on someone even breathing in the direction of their IP?
 
I'd be shocked if they used anything from Apple.
Their W1 health monitor watch is nothing like an Apple Watch. Being square-ish is the only resemblance.
It's a health monitor... the "watch" portion is just a clock. There are no "smart" features beyond health tracking.
The problem is that patents appear to be issued for so many functions its almost impossible not to theoretically breach a patent. Even the Masimo watch isn't governed by one patent:

  • Covered by or for use under one or more of the following U.S. Patents: 6822564, 6850787, 7295866, 7355512, 7373194, 7377899, 7467002, 7471969, 7865222, 7880606, 7988637, 7990382, 8046040, 8185180, 8190223, 8203438, 8265723, 8280473, 8337403, 8353842, 8405608, 8414499, 8457703, 8483787, 8498684, 8532728, 8560032, 8570167, 8626255, 8652060, 8676286, 8718735, 8790268, 8847740, 8892180, 8929964, 8983564, 9084569, 9113832, 9131882, 9131883, 9167995, 9192329, 9307928, 9370326, 9549696, 9636056, 9675286, 9724016, 9724024, 9775570, 9808188, 9814418, 9839381, 9848806, 9861305, 10064562, 10092200, 10098550, 10194847, 10219746, 10433776, 10595747, RE47218, RE47882, 10582886, 10588553, 10588554, 10610138, 10617338, 10624563, 10624564, 10631765, 10687745, 10758166, 10912501, 10912502, 10945648, 10959652, international equivalents, or one or more of the patents referenced at www.masimo.com/patents Other patents pending.

    Some patents even seem to be granted where 'prior art' should preclude the patent.

    Either way in this case I'd rather see Masimo and Apple working together as Masimo have the direction that many devices will be going, i.e. health


 
Apple should be forced to stop selling all products affected, completely removing them from sale until court cases are completely finished.

Apple are getting to big for their own boots.

Actually loved it when they were forced to settle with Qualcomm and then forced to use their tech because Intel modems were so crap.
 
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Masimo's blood oxygen products are used by almost every single modern hospital in the United States.
Didn't know that, here across the pond it is all Siemens/Dräger/Philips. But it still doesn't mean their 'watch' is a medically certified monitoring device. Philips makes patient monitors that are medically certified, but their CPAPs (you know from the foam-gate) aren't allowed for medical diagnostics.
 
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