The Apple Watch Won’t Be Banned In The US

The Apple Watch is an extremely popular wearable product by Apple, so it would’ve been a bit dystopic to see it banned in the US. Thankfully, believe it or not, Apple just avoided that fate.

A long-running legal battle between Apple and medical device company AliveCor has turned in Apple’s favor. The U.S. Federal Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed a prior ruling that invalidated three AliveCor patents related to electrocardiogram (ECG) technology used in the Apple Watch. If the court had ruled the other way, Apple would’ve potentially faced an import ban that would’ve effectively barred the company from continuing to sell the Apple Watch in US territory.

AliveCor, a company specializing in personal ECG devices, filed a lawsuit against Apple in 2021, telling the courts that the Apple Watch’s ECG functionality infringed on several of its patents. These patents relate to methods of monitoring heart rate and detecting arrhythmias (irregular heartbeats). Initially, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) sided with AliveCor, saying that Apple had, indeed, infringed on the three patents. Apple later challenged this decision by asking the USPTO’s Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) to review the validity of the patents in question. The PTAB eventually sided with Apple, concluding that several claims within the AliveCor patents were not patentable.

Regardless of that ruling, the International Trade Commission (ITC) still recommended a limited exclusion order and a cease-and-desist order against the Apple Watch—if that had gone through, it would have potentially blocked the import of certain models into the United States. Apple appealed the ITC’s ruling, citing the PTAB’s invalidation of the patents. Simultaneously, AliveCor appealed the PTAB’s decision, seeking to reinstate the validity of its patents. It looks like this back and forth is finally winding down today, as Apple has just won its own legal avenue with the court vacating the ITC’s ruling.

For its own part, AliveCor maintains that its patents are valid and that Apple infringed on its intellectual property, and said that the court did not fully consider secondary factors that the ITC found important. It’s also exploring its remaining legal options, including potential further appeals. So it still looks like AliveCor will continue trying to fight Apple, but at least for now, Apple will be able to continue selling its supposedly infringing smartwatches.

Apple has been involved in several high-profile patent disputes in recent years, a lot of them also related to the health-related features of the Apple Watch. Apple doesn’t win all of these, though—the legal battle with Masimo comes to mind as one that Apple actually lost. Apple and medical technology company Masimo were locked in a patent dispute over the blood oxygen sensing technology (pulse oximetry) in Apple Watch models. Masimo claims Apple infringed on its patents, and the ITC agreed, issuing an import ban on Apple Watch models with the feature. Apple was forced to temporarily halt sales of affected models and subsequently released updated versions with the blood oxygen feature disabled to comply.

It’s hard to see this going AliveCor’s way in the future, but the good part is that Apple will not have to stop selling Apple Watches at all. So you can still go to Apple’s store and buy one for yourself, and you’ll be able to continue doing so for the foreseeable future.

Source: MacRumors