Apple halts blood oxygen monitor on US smartwatches after patent dispute with Masimo
6:35 AM EST, January 18, 2024
In late December, we reported that Apple had suspended the distribution of the most recent versions of its smartwatches - the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2. This suspension affects only official Apple stores within the US and is a consequence of Apple breaching a patent held by the American company Masimo. The patent in question is related to non-invasive monitoring of blood oxygen concentration.
Apple Watch and the absence of a pulse oximeter
Resuming the sale of watches minus the feature above enables Apple to elude the sales prohibition. These smartwatches will return to the shelves in the Apple store starting from today, January 18th.
The watches being sold will still come with the 'Blood Oxygen' app. Still, when initiated, the user will be notified of its ineffectiveness and redirected to the 'Health' app on their iPhone. We will provide more detailed information on this later.
Under the ban, it's crucial to underline that the pulse oximeter functionality will still be operative in previously sold watch models. This limitation doesn't affect watches sold outside of the US.
The Apple-Masimo dispute
To remind ourselves, the contention between Apple and the company Masimo has been unfolding since 2020. Masimo pointed at Apple for breaching the patent above, purloining trade secrets, and attempting to poach employees. The court agreed with these allegations.
Reports suggest that Apple is currently making altercations to the algorithm of the 'Blood Oxygen' app in a bid to evade more infringements on Masimo's patent.
