Apple Watch's restored blood oxygen tracking attracts another lawsuit

Masimo filed a lawsuit against US Customs and Border Protection seeking to overturn a CBP decision that allowed Apple to restore blood oxygen tracking on Apple Watches. Apple previously disabled the feature on supported US Watch models after an ITC import ban in December 2023 following a patent dispute dating to 2020. Masimo alleges CBP failed to notify the company of its reversal of ITC restrictions, denying Masimo an opportunity to review or challenge the decision. Masimo learned of the reversal after Apple announced a redesigned pulse oximetry feature that calculates blood oxygen on iPhones. Masimo seeks a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to reinstate the original import restriction.

Apple has been embroiled in legal disputes over Masimo's blood oxygen sensor patent since 2020, disabling the feature on supported US Apple Watch models following an ITC import ban in December 2023. In a complaint filed on Wednesday, Masimo said that the CBP failed to notify the company of its decision to reverse the International Trade Commission restrictions, leaving Masimo with no opportunity to review or challenge the ruling. Masimo said it only learned that the ban had been reversed after Apple announced its "redesigned" pulse oximetry feature last week, which now calculates blood oxygen levels on iPhones instead of the Watch.

While no direct accusations were made, Masimo called out in the filing that Apple has made "a series of substantial investments in the United States" after its appeals to overturn the ITC ban were denied. Masimo noted that the CBP then allowed Apple to reactivate the feature, despite the company continuing to infringe on Masimo's patents, and that "whatever proceeding led to this new ruling departed substantially from CBP's established practice regarding LEO ruling requests."

Masimo is seeking a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to prevent the new ruling that allows Apple to restore blood oxygen features, and reinstate the original ruling that determined Apple could only import Watches to the US if the infringing patent tech had been completely disabled.

Read at The Verge