Overview
- The U.S. International Trade Commission, which declined review on Friday, left a non‑infringement finding in place and closed Masimo’s enforcement case.
- An ITC administrative law judge on March 18 found Apple’s redesigned watches do not infringe the asserted Masimo patents for blood‑oxygen measurement.
- Apple’s workaround moves much of the pulse‑oximetry processing and the results display to a paired iPhone, a change U.S. Customs approved so the feature could remain available in the U.S.
- The original Apple Watch blood‑oxygen implementation was blocked by a 2023 ITC import ban, prompting Apple to disable the feature before rolling out the approved redesign.
- Masimo can appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and is also suing Customs over the approval, while a separate California jury awarded Masimo $634 million in November that Apple plans to challenge.