In August, Apple launched a “redesigned” version of the Apple Watch’s blood oxygen feature in the United States. This comes 18 months after Apple began selling the Apple Watch without blood oxygen functionality due to a patent dispute with health technology company Masimo.
The International Trade Commission (ITC) says it is currently conducting a new process to determine whether the solution should also be banned because of Masimo’s patent dispute.
In a new filing today, the ITC said it has “decided to initiate a combined modification and enforcement proceeding” to determine whether the redesigned Apple Watch’s blood oxygen feature is permissible under the original ITC import ban. The decision was made following a complaint from Masimo.
According to ITC, the situation has changed because Apple is now selling a redesigned watch that was not included in the original investigation. This, in turn, would warrant reconsideration and would be the “single issue to be resolved” in the proceedings.
The review includes the question of whether Apple infringes by selling an Apple Watch that performs the disputed functions when paired with an iPhone.
Essentially, the ITC is evaluating not only what the Apple Watch does on its own, but also whether the Apple Watch and iPhone together activate patented technology.
Apple’s new Blood Oxygen feature on the Apple Watch focuses on displaying test results on your iPhone rather than the watch. When you start a session using the Blood Oxygen feature on your Apple Watch, sensors on your Apple Watch collect the necessary data.
However, the results cannot be seen on the Apple Watch itself. Instead, you can find them in the respiratory section of the Health app on your iPhone.
Meanwhile, an Apple spokesperson disputed Masimo’s complaint to the ITC, saying the company was trying to pressure the ITC to prevent Apple Watch users in the U.S. from accessing key health features. The company also notes that Masimo’s original ITC complaint was based on the then-nonexistent Masimo Watch.
In 2024, a jury ruled that Masimo’s W1 and Freedom Watch “willfully infringed Apple’s patent rights in smartwatch design.” W1 is no longer sold to consumers.
“Through parallel district court actions and this petition, Masimo seeks to pressure the European Commission to exceed its statutory authority and prevent millions of Americans from accessing Apple’s redesigned blood oxygen features,” Apple said in its latest filing in the ITC lawsuit. “Masimo has no domestic industrial product that would meaningfully benefit from this exclusion. Masimo W1, which the company claims is a domestic industrial product, remains not sold in more than minimal quantities two years after the conclusion of the underlying investigation, and Masimo no longer sells any version of Masimo W1 to consumers.”
“Masimo’s latest filings only confirm that Masimo is abusing the Commission’s power to eliminate critical consumer products in order to ‘protect’ a non-existent domestic industry,” Apple continues.
ITC said it plans to make a decision within six months.
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