A U.S. trade tribunal on Friday sided with Apple by refusing to reopen a case that sought to reimpose an import ban on the company’s Apple Watch models. The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) closed the proceeding after opting not to review an administrative law judge’s preliminary March determination that Apple’s redesigned watches do not violate Masimo patents related to blood-oxygen reading technology.
Masimo, which is owned by Danaher, retains the option to appeal the ITC’s decision to the Washington-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. A spokesperson for Masimo declined to provide comment on the ruling.
Apple issued a statement thanking the ITC for the decision and noting that the ruling permits the company to continue providing the health feature to customers. In the statement, Apple said Masimo has pursued a persistent legal campaign against it for more than six years, and that most of Masimo’s claims have been dismissed.
The dispute between the two firms has a long and complicated history. Masimo previously accused Apple of recruiting its staff to obtain pulse-oximetry technology used for measuring blood oxygen levels. In December 2023 the ITC had blocked imports of Apple’s Series 9 and Ultra 2 smartwatches after finding those models infringed Masimo patents.
To avoid the import ban, Apple removed the blood-oxygen reading capability from its watches, and later reintroduced a revised version of the feature in August with clearance from U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The updated implementation differs from Apple’s original approach: health data derived from the blood-oxygen reader is now shown on associated Apple devices such as the iPhone, rather than on the watch itself. Previously, the watch displayed the blood-oxygen data directly.
Masimo has pursued additional legal avenues in response to Apple’s actions. The company has filed a separate lawsuit against U.S. Customs over the agency’s approval of the redesigned watches. Masimo also brought cases against Apple in California federal court alleging patent infringement and trade-secret theft, and won a patent trial in November that resulted in a $634 million judgment. Apple has indicated it will appeal that verdict.
With the ITC closing Masimo’s challenge at the commission level, the dispute is likely to continue through appeals and parallel litigation in federal court and before Customs. The commission’s refusal to revisit the March preliminary ruling, however, means Apple can keep offering the altered blood-oxygen feature while those other legal processes unfold.