Apple says it will disable a blood oxygen monitoring feature on its two most popular watches in the United States starting Thursday to comply with a court order reviving a sales ban stemming from a patent dispute.
The decision to turn off the blood oxygen sensor for consumers who buy the Apple Watch Series 9 or Ultra 2 in the US came after a federal appeals court on Wednesday refused to extend an order that had allowed that the watches remained in stores during a battle over the rights to some of the technology.
A temporary stay issued by the US Court of Appeals three weeks ago allowed the two watch models to return to US stores after Apple pulled them from shelves and websites just before Christmas as part of a long battle with the medical technology company Masimo. .
In late October, the US International Trade Commission ruled that a blood oxygen sensor in Apple Watch models infringed Masimo’s patents, a finding that Apple is seeking to overturn in an appeals court. But that process could take at least a year to play out, forcing the Cupertino, California company to find another way to keep its premium watches available in the US.
In a court filing on Monday, Masimo revealed that Apple obtained approval from US Customs and Border Protection for revisions that would remove the blood oxygen sensor from the watches.
In a sign of Apple’s confidence in winning its appeal of the ITC ruling, Series 9 and Ultra 2 models sold in the US starting Thursday will still have a blood oxygen icon, but when pressed, users Users will be received with a notice informing them of the technology. not available.
Those who have already purchased the Series 9 and Ultra 2 models in the US will still be able to use the blood oxygen sensor as before. The sensor will continue to work on watches purchased outside the US.
If Apple had chosen to stop selling the Series 9 and Ultra 2 in the United States, it would threaten to put a small dent in the company’s annual sales of $383 billion. Although the company does not disclose Apple Watch sales volume, analysts estimate that the product represents around $18 billion in annual revenue.
Apple’s lowest-cost watch, called SE, is not affected by the changes caused by the battle with Masimo because that model never had the blood oxygen feature. But that technology, which Apple introduced to its line of watches in 2020, has been a key part of the company’s effort to position the devices as life-saving tools for monitoring users’ health.
In court papers urging the appeals court to continue blocking the sales ban, Apple argued that enforcing the ITC’s patent order would cause unnecessary harm to “a pioneering product made by a quintessentially American company that directly employs more than 90,000 employees” in the US
Masimo argued that Apple will not be significantly harmed by the ban on sales of Apple Watch models in the United States, given that most of the company’s revenue comes from the iPhone. What’s more, Masimo attempted to portray Apple as a corporate bully involved in the brazen theft of intellectual property widely used in hospitals and other healthcare professionals who treat some 200 million patients annually.