On the evening of December 18, Beijing time, well-known technology giant Apple said it plans to stop selling certain versions of Apple Watch in the United States as soon as this week in response to a patent dispute with medical device manufacturer Masimo。

Subsequently, the media confirmed to Apple that from 3: 00 p.m. Eastern Time on December 21, the company's two latest products launched in September this year - Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 - will no longer be available from Apple's U.S. official website.。

The ban may affect Apple Watch S6 and later products

Apple stopped selling the Apple Watch S9 and Ultra 2 models, mainly due to a patent dispute with medical device company Masimo.。In October, the U.S. International Trade Commission ruled that Apple had infringed Masimo's patent for a pulse oximeter, which states that the device can read human blood oxygen levels through light-based technology.。

As a result, the U.S. International Trade Commission issued an order in October this year to initiate a 60-day presidential review period, which will end on December 25.。The Biden administration could step in and veto the International Trade Commission's ban, but the White House has so far taken no action.。

Historically, it's rare for a U.S. president to veto a U.S. International Trade Commission penalty, and the last time there was a negative penalty was in 2013, when the protagonist was also Apple.。At the time, Apple was mired in a legal dispute with Samsung, and then President Obama directly vetoed the ban on the iPhone.。

If Apple loses the case, the import ban will affect Apple Watch Series 6 and later models, as well as all models of Apple Watch Ultra imported after the end of the next review period.。But Apple says low-end Apple Watch SE series watches that lack the sensor will not be affected。

Apple has been in a patent dispute for a long time.

According to court documents, Apple and Masimo held talks about the use of technology as early as 2013, but the talks eventually broke down.。Later, Apple backhand poached two of Masimo's executives and key engineers, leading Masimo to accuse Apple in legal documents, claiming that the latter poached these employees in order to illegally copy its technology.。

In response to the allegations, Apple has denied infringing any of Masimo's patents.。Apple said it had consulted a number of medical technology companies, not just Masimo, before launching its own version of the blood oxygen tool.。

In 2020, Masimo sued Apple for the first time in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, claiming that the Apple Watch violated 10 patents and was also suspected of stealing trade secrets by hiring key personnel.。In 2021, Masimo took the case to the U.S. International Trade Commission again, arguing that the Apple Watch Series 6 should be banned from sale because it violated Masimo's five patents on blood oxygen measurement technology.。

In October 2022, in response, Apple countersued Masimo, alleging that Masimo's W1 series of smartwatches violated multiple Apple patents.。Apple said it was in previous lawsuits that Masimo "carefully studied Apple's intellectual property" and obtained confidential information.。

In May this year, the patent dispute came to a white-hot stage。Even the jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict on whether Apple stole Masimo's patent amid heated debate between the two sides。Sources said that at a time when the two sides were at loggerheads, Apple had even discussed the idea of acquiring Masimo internally, but for various reasons, the proposal was eventually aborted.。

Apple said it strongly believes the U.S. International Trade Commission's findings are inaccurate and should be reversed.。Apple also plans to continue taking the decision to the Federal Circuit to seek the latter's support.。In addition, Apple is actively gathering evidence on how the import ban will negatively affect health care, scientific and medical research, and Apple Watch users who rely on electrocardiograms, blood oxygen, and other health-related features.。

If the ban is true, Apple still has three ways to go.

At present, the Apple Watch S9 and Ultra 2 will be discontinued for how long is still unknown。If the Biden administration decides not to eventually intervene in the U.S. International Trade Commission's ruling, Apple has three ways to go。

Once the presidential review period ends, Apple can appeal the ITC's final ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.。At present, Apple has stated that it plans to appeal on December 26。However, during Apple's appeal, Apple will also need to comply with the Apple Watch S9 and Ultra 2 sales ban and import ban, because the two patents that Masimo accused Apple Watch of infringing will not expire until August 2028.。

Second, Apple could also try to design around Masimo's two patents, such as firmware modifications to the Apple Watch software.。According to the news, Apple engineers are currently "racing against time to modify the algorithm on the device to measure the user's blood oxygen level."。Apple hopes to change the way Apple Watch "determines oxygen saturation and presents data to the user."。The source also said that this is a high-risk engineering design, which is different from any previous engineering design conducted by Apple.。

Article 3: Apple can try to reconcile with Masimo。While there are no signs of a settlement yet, Masimo CEO Joe Kiani has said he is open to a settlement.。

Commenting on the impact of the ban, David McQueen, director of ABI Research, said the decision to allow consumers to still buy watches in stores until December 24 should help mitigate the economic impact of the suspension, giving shoppers a few days to buy the devices before Christmas.。

He said: "Although Apple is the industry leader with about 24% market share, if it can increase sales in the last few days, assuming there is still inventory, it may not actually have much impact on its business."。"

Apple's long-time analyst Gene Munster also called the removal of the new watch from retail stores in the final sprint of the holiday shopping season an unfortunate time for the company, but he expected the impact on sales to be "negligible at best."。

He also noted, "Most people who want to buy a watch as a holiday gift have already bought it, and I'm more concerned about how long it will last.？"