On Friday, a federal jury in California adjudicated that Apple must pay $634 million to Masimo, a company specialising in medical-monitoring technology, due to infringement of a patent related to blood-oxygen measurement technology.
The jury concurred with Masimo that features in the Apple Watch, namely the workout mode and heart rate notification capabilities, transgressed Masimo’s patent protections, as confirmed by a spokesperson for the company.
In response, an Apple spokesperson articulated their disagreement with the ruling and indicated intentions to appeal.
“Over the past six years, Masimo has litigated against Apple in numerous jurisdictions, asserting over 25 patents, most of which have been adjudged invalid,” the spokesperson remarked.
“The single patent at issue in this case expired in 2022 and pertains to historical patient monitoring technology from decades past.”
Masimo heralded the verdict as “a significant victory” in their relentless quest to safeguard their innovations and intellectual property.
This lawsuit in California is merely one facet of a protracted and contentious patent battle between Apple and Masimo, based in Irvine, California, wherein Masimo accuses Apple of poaching its employees and appropriating its pulse oximetry technology for integration into Apple Watches.
The ongoing dispute prompted a U.S. trade tribunal to prohibit imports of Apple’s Series 9 and Ultra 2 smartwatches in 2023, determining that Apple’s technology violated Masimo’s patents.
To circumvent this ban, Apple removed blood-oxygen monitoring technology from its devices, later reintroducing an updated version with the sanction of U.S. Customs and Border Protection in August.
On the same day, the ITC announced the initiation of a new proceeding to assess whether the updated versions of Apple’s smartwatches should be subjected to the import ban.
Masimo is concurrently pursuing legal action against Customs regarding this decision, while Apple is challenging the import restrictions in a federal appeals court.
A California judge previously declared a mistrial in Masimo’s trade-secret litigation against Apple in 2023, as the jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict.
In a separate case, Apple secured a mere $250 verdict against Masimo in Delaware last year over claims that Masimo’s smartwatches infringed on two of Apple’s design patents.
Source link: Arizonadigitalfreepress.com.
