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Apple Legal Battle Among Masimo's Rising Litigation Costs
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Wouldn’t be surprised if Apple bleeds them dry in legal costs then swoops in and just buys the company when they on the verge of insolvency.
What is their end game? Apple isn't paying them any fees yet so they've sunk nearly $200M and have yet to show anything for it?
Seems like the board would want to fire the CEO for wasting company resources. The return on investment should meant that they are hoping to receive at minimum $200M to break even and maybe as much as $600M on the optimistic side. But right now, my understanding is they have received $0.
Seems like the board would want to fire the CEO for wasting company resources. The return on investment should meant that they are hoping to receive at minimum $200M to break even and maybe as much as $600M on the optimistic side. But right now, my understanding is they have received $0.
THIS is the reason Apple has gone this route. If Massimo wasn’t running the greedy medical device company playbook they’d be getting income per watch til their patents run out.
I’m sure they were looking it as lost sales of their existing products/services for each watch sold. They don’t want people to get that feature without paying them directly.
Yes. Apple was greedy, but so too is Massimo. They should settle and strike a licensing agreement going forward (unless Apple does come up with its own O2 measuring tech that is different enough to get past the ITC)
If Apple were to even hint in that direction the stock price would balloon overnight making an acquisition much more costly. (They’re a publicly traded company)
Settling at a decent price (not $100 per watch which is insane) would be best for Apple & Massimo.
Apple has already proven that they are willing (and able) to simply pull features when the courts and legislation don’t go their way. Look at what they did/are doing in the EU in response to some of their demands.
I would like to upgrade eventually, but I have to have an O2 sensor to check my oxygen levels. Until then, I’m using my Ultra 1.
Actually, it doesn't cost much to sue Apple or anyone else.
It only cost a lot if you want to win
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It only cost a lot if you want to win
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Masimo’s reported $70 million in legal spending for 2024 covers a broad range of litigation activities, including legal strategy, filings, expert testimony, court appearances, and administrative costs, not just billable hours. Attorneys often bill by the hour, but senior partners in major cases can command rates around $2,400–$3,000 per hour.
That doesn’t mean their entire time is billed at that rate; much of the litigation work involves multiple lawyers, paralegals, and overhead.
Not all legal costs are tied to hours. The total figure may include court fees, expert witness fees, travel expenses, and more.
No relief is coming. Appeals and strategic defenses by Big Tech are hardly unprecedented, and courts generally tolerate such motions, making fee awards improbable unless the behavior is egregiously out of bounds.
They pursued an import ban, they got it. They did not seek damages - they wanted a huge cut of the profits of each device instead and went out of their way to release their own watch that would make the Galaxy S and S2 jealous. Apple can just wait them out though, rather than forking over money for a years-long deal. The patents expire in 2028.
That's no reason to steal.
I'd assume the endgame is to recoup that money from the court case or from Apple agreeing to settle (unlikely). The alternative is basically signalling that it's okay to steal from them as long as you have enough money to game the legal system.
Masimo sued Apple, had most of its claims dismissed and only one that went to the jury had all but one of the jurors side with Apple resulting in no jury verdict. Masimo instead went to the ITC, with no jury, and received an import ban which Apple is currently appealing.
Masimo was unable to convince a jury that Apple infringed. What makes you so sure they should owe anything?
The ITC, the court that ruled in Maximo’s favor, cannot grant any monetary damages and in their other case where monetary damages were an option, all but one juror voted against Masimo, leaving them without a jury verdict.
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This is a company with odd decisions. Beyond this $100M fight with Apple, they bought the company behind Polk, Denon, Marantz, Bowers and Wilkins. Their investors were confused why a medical focused stock would take this direction.
You say this based on what evidence?
It might be a nice feature, but can you tell me exactly what actionable data it produces? In what way is it essential? I have an Apple Ultra 2 with it, and I almost never look at my pulse ox as.
Again, you say this based on what evidence? Do you have a copy of an offer from Masimo for settlement that shows that? They were seeking over $2 billion in damages, even at a dollar a watch that would mean they had to have sold 2 billion watches (and since it was only a small subset of the watches they sold - and then only in the U.S.) that certainly seems like way more than pennies a watch.
They did not start this fight, and have done nothing to try to kill them. All the damages to Masimo have been self-inflicted.
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Masimo was unable to convince a jury that Apple infringed on their patents. Six of the seven jurors voted in Apple’s favor.
Masimo lost a lawsuit to Apple for infringing two of Apple’s patents (Apple did not get meaningful damages, but they did not really care about that).
It would but Apple ignored them, esentially stealing the tech from Masimo. Pity that a trillion-dollar company acts like a child.
All this over a discontinued product that barely made it to market… Masimo just drop the damn lawsuit and save your money your device was a failed product and apple had nothing to do with that…
The endgame is ensuring thieves face justice and accountability.
Considering than when the lawsuit started Masimo had $641 million in cash and at the end of 2024 they were at $181 millions they may want to reduce expenses. They seem to be getting strappier the longer the case goes.
Not surprised to see the very high legal expenses. Lawyer fees are always high. Think this will be the case if one goes to challenge any big company.
Sure, but you gotta agree on the license fee and my guess is that the two companies are faaaaaaar apart on that one, hence litigation