Apple Wins Preliminary Ruling, Averting New Apple Watch Import Ban Over Blood Oxygen Tech

In a significant development, a U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) judge has issued a preliminary ruling in favor of Apple, as reported by Reuters. The decision states that the company's redesigned blood oxygen monitoring feature in the latest Apple Watches does not infringe upon patents held by medical device manufacturer Masimo.

This initial ruling is a crucial victory for Apple, as it successfully navigates the threat of a new import ban on its flagship wearable device. However, it is important to note that this decision is not yet final; it must be reviewed and confirmed by the full ITC commission before it becomes official.


 

The core of this dispute revolves around a technical workaround Apple implemented to bypass previous patent restrictions. In this new system, the sensor on the Apple Watch is now responsible only for collecting raw data. The critical data processing is offloaded entirely to a paired iPhone.

Consequently, the final blood oxygen measurement can only be viewed on the iPhone's screen. This redesigned approach had already received clearance from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), which allowed Apple to re-enable the blood oxygen feature on devices sold in the United States.

Masimo strongly contested the CBP's decision, filing a lawsuit against the agency and urging the ITC to investigate whether Apple's new solution still violated the original import ban. This preliminary ruling from the ITC judge directly addresses Masimo's complaint, indicating that Apple's "design-around" strategy has so far passed legal and technical scrutiny.

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