Apple Watch Ban: Soon after the exit of the latest Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 from the online and offline stores of the brand in the United States, another update is a point of tension for the tech giant. President Joe Biden's administration has refused to veto the decision of the Apple Watch import ban following a complaint from Masimo, a medical monitoring technology firm.
The US International Trade Commission's (ITC) directions will be implemented from December 26, barring imports and Apple Watch sales that deploy the patent violation technology for taking blood-oxygen readings. For the unaware, the tech giant first implemented the pulse oximeter in its smartwatches with the Apple Watch Series 6 in 2020. The company can still appeal in the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
Katherine Tai, the US Trade Representative, decided to keep the ban in place following careful consideration. This led to ITC's decision's becoming final, the agency said. The possible remedy is to appeal the decision further. The Cupertino company halted sales of Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 in the US last week. However, the latest Watch SE remains unaffected by the change. Also, the older models continue to sell as usual.
Masimo claims that Apple hired its employees, stole the technology, and implemented it in the Apple Watch. Earlier this year, a jury trial to address Masimo's allegations ended with a mistrial in the California federal court. Separately, Apple has also sued Masimo for patent infringement (in Delaware) with the accusations that the legal actions were an attempt to clear the roadmap for an upcoming smartwatch from Masimo.
On a related note, the Biden government did not veto another import ban on Apple Watches based on a complaint from medical tech firm AliveCor. However, the ban is currently on hold. For a quick background on ITC and Apple, in 2013, the Barack Obama administration overturned the import restrictions on iPhones and iPads in a patent dispute with South Korean giant Samsung.