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Apple Watch Risks US Import Ban After Biden Administration Upholds Patent Ruling

I guess it depends on where you get your news, but Biden did not 'uphold the patent', his trade ambassador agreed with the ITC ruling, and the reason appears to be because the patent(s) that the fight is all about have been ruled invalid. The office of the president, according to the article I read, can not weigh in on the patent case, but can agree to the ITC ruling that is based on the patents being legal, and now that they seem to be vacated, the ITC will drive this out on a pier that will end thousands of feet before they do. The ITC ruling will disappear like a fart in a stiff wind.

Sucks for AliveCor, but if they lost, they lose.
 
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robd003 said:
Why is the Biden administration always siding against Apple? They were also pushing back on the App Store.
Click to expand...

They aren't.

They are letting the fact that the patent(s) were ruled INVALID run its course. The ITC will be forced to rescind their actions because there is no legal foundation to build their ban on. A president can't force a patent to be valid, and for the administration to jump into the fray that at this point is based on the legal process, and the very real chances that there is nothing there there would be 'unfortunate'.

They are playing the game out, and the referees have already blown the whistle. It's all over (pending appeals) and the ITC will drop this, eventually.

They weren't attacking Apple as much as letting ActiveCor twist in the wind.
 
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laptech said:
MP3 players were already out, mobile phones were already out, Apple comes up with a patent that marries the two together and boom we have the iphone. Just because ECG has been out there does not mean it's been in the form that AliveCor uses it in. If AliveCor patents are thrown out because of the issue of ECG already being out there then on that note Apple's iphone patent should be thrown out because MP3 and mobile phones were already out there.
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The argument was that when Apple added their ECG in the Apple Watch (after being shown the AliveCor ECG accessory), Apple changed watchOS to disable use of AliveCor's ECG accessory. That's were claim of predatory capitalism comes in.
 
User 6502 said:
Apple definitely did a lot of patent trolling but in this case their is no patent trolling involved. AliveCor did not come up with some vague patent without a legitimate product. They actually make and sell products that use this technology. Apple just stole it and that of course is illegal. There probably won’t be a ban, but apple can’t simply disable the ECG feature either as they advertised and sold the product with that feature in many markets, so this would expose them to huge class actions. I suspect apple will just have to open their wallet and pay substantial amounts to AliveCor for the past violations and possibly royalties for each new Apple Watch sold henceforth.
Click to expand...
Agree. Apple will drag this out as long as possible, all whilst exploring the potential of a workaround, and eventually cut AliveCor a check. Move alone.
 
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smaffei said:
The argument was that when Apple added their ECG in the Apple Watch (after being shown the AliveCor ECG accessory), Apple changed watchOS to disable use of AliveCor's ECG accessory. That's were claim of predatory capitalism comes in.
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You must be wrong because according to the article the issue is patent related and not about Apple blocking/disabling access to a 3rd parties accessory.
 
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diddl14 said:
Hard to believe it will come to a ban. Worst case Apple will just (temporarily) disable the ECG feature in watchOS.
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I hope thats only on new sales, not a remote disable of the feature on existing watches people have paid for. If so, there better be a mass refund waiting.
 
No5tromo said:
I fed ChatGPT with the article and asked it to estimate the probability of a ban
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Lol...I'm surprised it didn't contemplate suicide and then threatened to ruin your reputation for asking it such a deplorable question. Chatgpt sounds like a psychopathic Siri.
 
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laptech said:
MP3 players were already out, mobile phones were already out, Apple comes up with a patent that marries the two together and boom we have the iphone. Just because ECG has been out there does not mean it's been in the form that AliveCor uses it in. If AliveCor patents are thrown out because of the issue of ECG already being out there then on that note Apple's iphone patent should be thrown out because MP3 and mobile phones were already out there.
Click to expand...
That’s quite the conclusion. Maybe one should be able to patent throwing a newspaper on a front porch from a bicycle.
 
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I get it AliveCor totally invented the ECG and therefore has a right to patent it. Oh wait, they didn't? and it was invented a long time ago? Well, then I am confused
 
This is to be applauded. AliveCor made the Kardia first, in 2014. They patented the tech first.

Then Apple ignored it in 2018, 4 years later. They even went ahead and presented it as a "first". IIRC AliveCor even tweeted about it, like "excuse me, but..."

So... Apple, pay up. The case is crystal clear. AliveCor is entitled to their money.
 
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MauiPa said:
I get it AliveCor totally invented the ECG and therefore has a right to patent it. Oh wait, they didn't? and it was invented a long time ago? Well, then I am confused
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What's to be confused about? It's crystal clear. Apple is in the wrong, AliveCor was first both to make the device and to patent the tech.

techcrunch.com

Apple's Watch isn't the first with an EKG reader but it will matter to more consumers | TechCrunch

Apple’s COO Jeff Williams exuberantly proclaimed Apple's Watch was the first to get FDA clearance as an over-the-counter electrocardiogram (EKG) reader
techcrunch.com techcrunch.com
 
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bviktor said:
What's to be confused about? It's crystal clear. Apple is in the wrong, AliveCor was first both to make the device and to patent the tech.

techcrunch.com

Apple's Watch isn't the first with an EKG reader but it will matter to more consumers | TechCrunch

Apple’s COO Jeff Williams exuberantly proclaimed Apple's Watch was the first to get FDA clearance as an over-the-counter electrocardiogram (EKG) reader
techcrunch.com techcrunch.com
Click to expand...
Don't get too excited, let's see where the final PTAB appeal ends up.

But I do look forward to seeing AliveCor's KardiaWatch, the currently non-existent wearable ECG device.
 
Edit: I should have read more before firing off my ranty comment. @PinkyMacGodess is correct - AliveCor’s claims have been found unpatentable in a parallel case, so unless that gets reversed on appeal, Apple wins. Strange the way most outlets are framing this as bad for Apple because the very likely result is AliveCor loses its patents entirely.
 
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