Pulse Oximetry Company Masimo Wants the Apple Watch Series 6 Banned

[MacRumors]

Medical device company Masimo is embroiled in an ongoing legal battle with Apple over several of the health capabilities available in the Apple Watch, and now Masimo wants the Apple Watch Series 6 banned, reports Bloomberg.

Masimo today filed a new patent infringement lawsuit with the United States International Trade Commission, which asks the ITC to halt imports of the Apple Watch Series 6. According to Masimo, the Apple Watch Series 6 infringes on five Masimo patents related to blood oxygen monitoring.

Medical grade pulse oximetry devices are what Masimo specializes in, and pulse oximetry is a feature that Apple added to the Apple Watch with the Series 6 model. The Apple Watch uses light to detect the amount of oxygen in the blood, with the feature joining heart rate monitoring and ECG capabilities.

Masimo initially sued Apple in January 2020, accusing the Cupertino company of stealing trade secrets and improperly using Masimo inventions. Masimo's patents are now being examined by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office because Apple said they do not cover new inventions, and the case is on hold until that process has been completed.

Masimo has claimed that by getting the court to delay the legal proceedings until the patents are validated, Apple is attempting to sell more Apple Watches. The patent office delay has prompted Masimo to also file with the ITC, as the ITC will not delay the investigation.

ITC cases are completed in 15 to 18 months, and because of the speed at which cases are investigated, there won't be time for the patent office to weigh in should Apple also attempt to challenge these claims.

In the prior filing, Masimo claimed that Apple sneakily poached Masimo employees and used patented Masimo technology when developing the sensors used in the Apple Watch.

Masimo told the ITC that banning the Apple Watch Series 6 will not impact the public because the pulse oximetry functionality in the device is "not essential to the public health or welfare," and the Apple Watch's blood oxygen monitoring is not a true medical device.

Article Link: Pulse Oximetry Company Masimo Wants the Apple Watch Series 6 Banned

 

[TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️]

Yeahhhhh! Good luck with that. That’s not going to work. Already got my series 6 AW. Definitely will be ordering series 7 AW.

Wasting their time, energy, resources.

Case Dismissed!

 

[EvilEvil]

Too bad I already got one.

 

[DelayedGratificationGene]

Another lawsuit against Apple huh? Seen so many through the years. Everyone goes after the King of the Hill looking for anything. The only ones getting anything are the lawyers folks so you’re only hurting yourselves.

 

[PlutoPrime]

In David & Goliath... at least David was David. But here we're talking amoeba vs Zeus. No popcorn necessary for this one.

 

[macfacts]

I'm proud to have never spent one penny to support thieves

 

[dojoman]

Small potato fighting big potato good luck with that.

 

[fwmireault]

Well Apple may listen to them and stop importing S6 after september event… who knows

 

[heystu]

Another lawsuit against Apple huh? Seen so many through the years. Everyone goes after the King of the Hill looking for anything. The only ones getting anything are the lawyers folks so you’re only hurting yourselves.

Agree that the only ones who ever make any money out of this sort of thing are the lawyers, but that doesn't detract from the fact that a company genuinely believes that Apple has infringed on its patents - tell me if you were the patent holder in this case would you just roll over, drop the proverbial prison soap and let Apple do you over?

 

[Kung gu]

I'm proud to have never spent one penny to support thieves

If you ever brought any technology you supported thieves

 

[poematik13]

I love when bad companies get BTFO by innovators

 

[leepalisoc]

I'm proud to have never spent one penny to support thieves

…and yet you registered for an account and spent time to upload a profile pic with a website that is 99% related to these “thieves.”

 

[zorinlynx]

Wouldn't it make more sense to ask for damages and a licensing fee than to try to completely ban the product?

The former is reasonable if a patent was infringed. Banning the product completely is just being an *******. You'd think the company suing would stand to profit more with a licensing agreement in place anyway!

 

[jav6454]

So:

Masimo told the ITC that banning the Apple Watch Series 6 will not impact the public because the pulse oximetry functionality in the device is "not essential to the public health or welfare," and the Apple Watch's blood oxygen monitoring is not a true medical device.

Then what's the issue? Apple is not a medical grade device seller, nor do they claim to be.

 

[JCCL]

Yeahhhhh! Good luck with that. That’s not going to work. Already got my series 6 AW. Definitely will be ordering series 7 AW.

Wasting their time, energy, resources.

Case Dismissed!

Oh the authority has spoken! No need to go to court or anything "Theyayarealivin" on Macrumors.com has dismissed the case!

 

[locovaca]

Wouldn't it make more sense to ask for damages and a licensing fee than to try to completely ban the product?

The former is reasonable if a patent was infringed. Banning the product completely is just being an *******. You'd think the company suing would stand to profit more with a licensing agreement in place anyway!

They very well could’ve already asked to negotiate licensing and Apple refused. Lawsuits like this are not usually step 1 in the process, it’s step 23 or 24.

 

[Rocko99991]

Are they even accurate at all? Seems to be 98% all the time.

 

[ArPe]

“Masimo told the ITC that banning the Apple Watch Series 6 will not impact the public because the pulse oximetry functionality in the device is "not essential to the public health or welfare," and the Apple Watch's blood oxygen monitoring is not a true medical device.”

That means it would have no effect on your business either Masimo so GFYS with a cactus.

 

[_Spinn_]

I don’t see this happening. Do other devices like Fitbits not infringe on these patents even though they also use light to measure blood O2 levels?

 

[ageis]

Small potato fighting big potato good luck with that.

Masimo market cap of $13.4B and 2020 revenue of $1.144B... not exactly small potatoes

 

[alexandr]

well when this happens i'll be able to sell my s6 with a great profit! i already have wechat installed on it )

 

[macsareveryinteresting]

Yeah good luck with that. Apple is not going to let that happen.

 

[macsareveryinteresting]

I don’t see this happening. Do other devices like Fitbits not infringe on these patents even though they also use light to measure blood O2 levels?

It’s obvious they don’t like Apple.

 

[RavynArcadia]

I don’t see this happening. Do other devices like Fitbits not infringe on these patents even though they also use light to measure blood O2 levels?

Those aren’t apple obviously.

 

[sulli18]

I bought the Apple Watch exclusively for the Pulse Ox feature (survivor of several pulmonary emboli). From what I've seen on the market, nothing comes close to what the Apple Watch is offering as far as pulse ox tech goes. The "watches" from medical tech companies are technically that, but have a wire running down to a finger sensor, nothing just on the wrist like the Apple Watch/Fitbit.

Looking on Amazon now, there seems to be way more options than there previously were for the wrist exclusive pulse ox meters. Still mostly large and bulky, or obvious cheap rip offs of Garmin/Fitbit/Apple.