Apple have finally thrown in the towel in their fight with Masimo Corporation with the stolen blood oxygen technology found in their new Apple Watch Series 9 and Watch Ultra 2 devices set to be pulled from the Apple product.
While Apple itself has not released a statement, information given to the US Customs and Border Protection Organisation who banned Apple watches from being sold in the USA last year for a short in December 2023 indicates that they would allow Apple to consider selling both products in a brokered deal that will allow Apple to continue selling their watches in the USA.
The Apple Watch Series 9 and Watch Ultra 2 contain technology that a court ruled was basically stolen from medical device maker Masimo.
The International Trade Commission (ITC) ruled that the blood oxygen sensors in both devices infringed on patents from Masimo.
After Apple pulled the Watch Series 9 and Watch Ultra 2 from its physical and online stores, they won an appeal against the decision resulting in a temporary pause on the watch ban during the peak Christmas New Year period.
The move allowed Apple to resume sales in the US while it waited for the US Customs and Border Protection to assess its changes.
The Verge reports that in the weeks since, Apple has scrambled to make changes to the watches in an attempt to avoid Masimo’s patents.
Customs was tasked with determining whether the company’s proposed changes were enough, and according to a letter from Masimo’s attorneys all parties appeared to agree on the new plan to remove the feature from the Apple Watch Series 9 and Watch Ultra 2.
The modified watches have already been shipped to Apple retail stores, but that the stores have been instructed not to sell the modified watches until they get the okay from Apple management.
The new Samsung Watches do have a Blood Oxygen measurement capability.
What’s not known is whether the modifications will apply to watches sold in Australia.
For now, the feature appears to still be active on watches already sold and it’s not clear if those watches will lose the feature in a future software update.
