Apple Asks Federal Circuit to Void Import Ban on Watch Oxygen Sensor

Apple Inc. urged the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on Monday to overturn an International Trade Commission ruling that blocks imports of Apple Watches equipped with a blood-oxygen sensor. Company lawyer Joseph Mueller told the three-judge panel the 2023 exclusion order has “deprived millions of Apple Watch users” of the health feature and exceeded the ITC’s statutory authority. The dispute centers on Masimo Corp.’s patents covering pulse-oximetry technology. Apple argued the ban was unjustified because Masimo had only prototypes—not a commercial smartwatch—when it filed its 2021 complaint. Masimo’s counsel, Joseph Re, countered that a finished product is not required for the ITC to protect patent rights and accused Apple of trying to rewrite the law. The ITC found late in 2023 that the blood-oxygen function in Apple’s Series 9 and Ultra 2 models infringed Masimo’s patents, leading Apple to disable the feature in U.S. units to keep the devices on sale. Apple briefly won a stay of the ban but lost on reinstatement in early 2024. The Federal Circuit did not indicate when it will rule on the appeal, which could determine whether the health sensor can be restored in future U.S. models.