Implications of the ITC Trademark Violation on Apple Watches and Other Popular Motions: The Case of Apple vs. Masimo

9to5Mac reports that sales will pause on Apple.com starting at 3 pm Eastern on December 21, and in-store inventory will no longer be available at retail locations starting on December 24. The ITC’s ban would only affect Apple, so the watches will continue to continue to sell on retailers like Amazon and Best Buy for the time being. Both watches will not be affected by the proposed ban because they are not imports into the United States.

It’s not clear if the ITC ban will stand. It’s currently undergoing a presidential review period, and President Joe Biden will have the opportunity to veto the ban. Presidential vetos, however, are uncommon, though Apple has benefitted from them in the past. In 2013, former President Barack Obama vetoed an ITC import ban on the iPhone 4 and certain iPad models. Biden decided to uphold the ITC ruling that would prohibit Apple Watch imports if they used the EKG feature. The presidential review period ends December 25th, so we’ll have to see if things change between now and then.

The patent disputes between Apple and Masimo have been going on for a long time. Masimo is most well known for its pulse oximeter. In the US District court in the Central district of California, Masimo filed two cases accusing Apple of violating its pulse oximetry tech. This particular import ban is a result of the latter.

There has been a long running dispute with Masimo. As Engadget reports, Masimo sued Apple in 2021. The company alleged that Apple had infringed on one of its patents related to light-based blood-oxygen monitoring. The ITC upheld the judge’s ruling that Apple had violated the patents. The 60-day presidential review period ends on December 25, after the decision was made. Apple is taking precautions to comply with the law.

It’s not unusual for companies to block sales of a competitor due to patent violations. Many watches look the same and have similar features, that’s why they’re rare. In the year of 2016 Fitbit tried to block the imports of certain products in a patent case but relented when it was realized that there were not many fitness trackers available on the market. Apple, the maker of the best-selling watches in the world, is really a big company.